GB News Investor’s Company Loses Legal Battle Over Salvaged Silver

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GB News Investor's Company Loses Legal Battle Over Salvaged Silver

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A company owned by Sir Paul Marshall, an investor in GB News, has faced a legal setback in a dispute with South Africa over £34 million ($42 million) worth of salvaged silver. In 2017, Argentum Exploration LTD retrieved the silver from a World War Two-era shipwreck in the Indian Ocean and transported it to the UK, initiating a claim for salvage.

South Africa contested the claim, asserting that the silver was originally intended for coinage and thus belonged to them. The ship in question, SS Tilawa, was torpedoed by Japan in November 1942 while en route from India to east Africa, resulting in the loss of over 280 lives among the 950 passengers aboard.

The silver, sold by the government of India for coin production in South Africa and Egypt, lay submerged for over 70 years until Argentum utilized advanced technology to recover it from the depths.

Majority-owned by Sir Paul Marshall, Argentum Exploration Ltd declared the salvaged silver to the Receiver of Wreck upon its arrival in Southampton. South Africa subsequently laid claim to the silver, prompting a legal dispute over ownership.

Maritime law allows salvors to claim payment for salvage regardless of whether the property’s owner requested its retrieval. Both the UK Court of Appeal and High Court ruled in favor of Argentum’s claim, rejecting South Africa’s argument of sovereign immunity.

However, South Africa appealed to the Supreme Court, challenging the characterization of the silver’s intended use at the time of sinking as for “commercial purposes.” The Supreme Court unanimously sided with South Africa, affirming their immunity from Argentum’s claim.

This decision marks a legal victory for South Africa, resolving the dispute over the ownership of the salvaged silver.