Steel from shipwrecks

In recent years component parts of historic shipwrecks have started to disappear, with reports of mysterious vessels and scavengers floating around. This phenomenon has been reported in Indonesia, Australia, and the Netherlands.

One theory is that the target for plunderers is pre-atomic steel, ie any steel produced before the nuclear testing era, and therefore free of radioactive particles. Its purer material composition makes it essential in the manufacturing of specialist scientific tools such as MRI machines, and as such is highly valuable. Shipwrecks, oftentimes war graves, are one of the few remaining sources for this material.

Materials scientist Anna Ploszajski investigates and a murky picture of illegal plundering across the globe starts to emerge.

Presenter: Anna Ploszajski
Producer: Jude Shapiro
Executive producer: Jack Howson
Sound engineer: David Crackles
A Peanut and Crumb production for BBC World Service

(Photo: A diver explores a 19th Century shipwreck filled with bottles of champagne and mineral water discovered at the bottom of the Baltic Sea by Polish divers, 8 July, 2024. Credit: Marek Cacaj/Reuters)