Deep wreck search fails to find gold

A team of technical divers has failed to find gold in the remains of a World War 2 Japanese shipwreck.

The Kuda Maru was sunk off the coast of Cebu in the Phillippines, reportedly carrying a cargo of stolen gold.

the team used British-built AP Diving rebreathers

Today the remains of the ship lie in around 90 metres of water.

A previous attempt to find Kuda Maru booty in the mid-1990s reputedly led to the deaths of three divers. A follow-up expedition in 2000 also failed to find any treasure.

But the lure of riches continues to prove irresistible, and earlier this month a team of CCR divers breathing trimix completed 16 dives on the site.

The ITC Scuba team divers were Theuns van Niekerk, Scott Livingston, Patrice Laborda, Lou Holder and Damjan Perenic.

Their primary aim was not actually locating the gold but a positive identification of the ship. However, after 70 years on the bottom she is being consumed by silt and has deteriorated considerably.

No name markings could be found, so the team shot HD video for later comparison with WW2-era photographs and drawings.

It was a challenging series of dives. Expedition spokesman Theuns van Niekerk said: “Because of the extreme depth and long decompression times required we could not spend more than 45 minutes at the bottom.”

Team members all used British-built AP Diving rebreather units to explore the wreck of the Kuda Maru.