Photo: Nick Messinger
A century old mystery may soon be solved in the frigid depths off Alaska’s coast. The SS Islander, a 240 foot liner operated by the Canadian Pacific Navigation Company, sank on August 15, 1901 while en route from Skagway, Alaska to Vancouver, British Columbia. Approximately 40 people perished in the sinking including the highest government official of the Yukon Territory. The steamer was purportedly carrying 6 tons of gold which led to a series of salvage efforts beginning only weeks after the ship’s sinking. Not until 1934, though, were any successful attempts made due to hazardous working conditions and primitive salvage equipment. The 1934 expedition used a process similar to that employed on the Swedish Vasa shipwreck to raise a 175 foot section of the ship and beach it on shore. The tremendous efforts expended to float the ship are documented in Sunken Klondike Gold
Eight decades later another group, Ocean Mar, Inc., has returned to (hopefully) complete the salvage of the ship. Ocean Mar began its efforts in the early 1990s, but were stymied by legal wranglings with another salvage company – Yukon Recovery LLC. A federal court finally resolved the dispute in June of 2012 and the state of Alaska issued Ocean Mar, Inc. a work permit for the site this week, nearly 111 years to the day since the ship’s sinking. The permit extends through December 31 and the Alaska State Museum will serve as a repository for salvaged artifacts. If recovered, the melt value of the gold alone would be worth more than $300,000,000.00 in 2012 dollars. Ocean Mar has a salvage agreement in place with Salvage Association of London whereby Ocean Mar would pay Salvage Association 25% of any recovery in order to pay off any insurers’ claims.
Shipwreckology 
Having taken part in the 1996 expedition, I wish Ted Jaynes and the team every success. Let’s hope the mystery can be resolved once and for all.
Commander Messinger – I visited your site for background when writing the post. Great stuff there.
I would be most interested to hear news of the latest foray into northern waters in search of the ss Islander’s elusive gold cargo. If it wa down to me, I would have excavated the bow section wreck field, which I discovered back in 1996, on the 95th anniversary of the ship’s sinking. I doubt if ‘boxes of gold’ simply slid across the decks and splashed into the sea, close inshore. Pine boxes, with iron fastenings would have long rotted away, and with that glacier tilt seabed, heavy bars of the bright yellow stuff would have simply sunk deeper and deeper. From my memories of the shell plating, exposed frames and iron work, it’s far more likely that any gold on board, would have been stowed in the forward specie locker, on the port side, accessed from the well deck just aft of the break of the focsle – guarded round the clock by those staunch men of the RCMP.