Chapter 1843: Shipwreck in the Lake

Bruch was puzzled when he heard Xiao Peng's words and asked, "Boss, we make our living on the sea, why are we going to the highway to look for trucks? And what kind of highway did four trucks spend thirty years looking for? You're kidding, right?"

After Bruch finished speaking, everyone on the plane burst into laughter.

Kashin said bluntly: "Shut up, you German! 'Road of Life' doesn't refer to a highway, it refers to Lake Ladoga! It was formerly Lake Neva."

Bruch curled his lips and said, "It's just a lake, why is it called the 'Road of Life'? I understand. This time, four trucks fell into the lake, and we have to find them, right? You Russians are too stupid. You can't even find four trucks in a lake?"

Kasin shook his head. "Bruch, you'd better shut up. I think you're an idiot! You think Lake Ladoga is just a small lake in a park? It's the largest freshwater lake in Europe. How big is it? It's equivalent to half the size of the Netherlands! There are over 660 islands in the lake alone! Compared to Lake Ladoga, your Germany's largest Lake Constance is just a small puddle! Try to find four trucks in a lake this big!"

"So big?" Bruch was surprised.

Kasin said with disdain, "You call this big? Thankfully, we're not going to the Caspian Sea or Lake Baikal, otherwise I don't think the boss would even take the job! Salvage there is much more difficult!"

Kashin said this for a reason. The Caspian Sea and Lake Baikal he mentioned are both restricted areas for the "Ocean Salvage Company".

Lake Ladoga is Europe's largest freshwater lake, while the Caspian Sea is the world's largest saltwater lake. The Caspian Sea's area is roughly the size of the Netherlands. Although it's called a "sea," it's actually a lake.

The Caspian Sea was once part of the ancient Mediterranean Sea. Later, due to shifting continental plates, it became a lake. Geographers call it a "miracle lake." Over 130 rivers flow into it, yet it remains a saltwater lake. Despite being a lake, it's home to a diverse array of marine life.

Several countries are still arguing over whether the Caspian Sea is a sea or a lake. The most crucial reason is - money!

Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Caspian Sea was extremely quiet because it was considered the Soviet Union's "inland lake". 88.4% of the entire Caspian Sea belonged to the Soviet Union and 11.6% belonged to Iran. Only ships flying the flags of the two countries could sail here.

However, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Caspian Sea was surrounded by five countries. In addition, the biological resources, oil, gas and mineral resources here are so abundant that the division of the Caspian Sea has become a very difficult problem to solve.

The Caspian Sea near Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan is rich in oil and gas resources, so these three countries insist that the Caspian Sea is not a lake but an "inland sea" and that the seabed should be demarcated in accordance with the International Convention on the Law of the Sea. However, Iran and Turkmenistan do not have many oil and gas resources around them, so they demand that the Caspian Sea be recognized as a lake.

Why do these two countries do this? Because if the Caspian Sea is considered an ocean, then the ownership of the Caspian Sea must be divided according to the 12-nautical-mile line and the 200-nautical-mile focused economic zone. If it is considered a lake, the resources there are the common property of all the coastal countries. Any country that wants to exploit the resources of the Caspian Sea must obtain joint consultation and allocation from all the countries surrounding the lake before proceeding.

So, to put it bluntly, it's a struggle for interests, which has caused a lot of strife in the Caspian Sea area.

It wasn't until 2018, when the presidents of the five countries surrounding the Caspian Sea, under the leadership of the Emperor, signed the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea, that the disputes abated. The most interesting thing is that this convention neither defines the Caspian Sea as a "lake" nor a "sea," but instead implements a different system of divisions: First, fifteen nautical miles from the coastline belong to the coastal states, and ten nautical miles beyond that is an exclusive fishing zone. Beyond these coastal areas and exclusive fishing zones, the remaining waters are shared by the five countries.

The direct result of this convention was...

No one is interested in Caspian's wealth anymore.

The Caspian Sea has oil and gas resources, minerals and shipwrecks, but the pace of development has been seriously slowed down. Countries are looking for wealth along their own coasts, and no one goes to the jointly owned areas: after all, no one wants to see five countries dividing the wealth!

As for Lake Baikal, it was also a restricted area for the Ocean Salvage Company. However, the problem there was that salvaging was too difficult.

Lake Baikal is the largest freshwater lake in Eurasia and the deepest lake on the entire planet. The freshwater content of that lake is equivalent to the total freshwater content of the five Great Lakes in North America. 20% of the world's freshwater is in that lake!

In the eyes of Chinese people, Lake Baikal is a paradise, with a song called "On the Shores of Lake Baikal." However, in the eyes of local Russians, Lake Baikal is not so beautiful. It is also nicknamed "The Lake of Danger and Death." Winter temperatures can reach -30 to -40 degrees Celsius, and the lake's surface is covered in a meter-thick layer of ice. Strong winds and snowstorms are commonplace. Furthermore, the lake is incredibly deep; to this day, no one knows the exact depth of its deepest point. Furthermore, the lake's bottom terrain is quite complex, much more complex than even the deep sea.

Want to salvage a shipwreck there? Without a large offshore vessel like the Calypso, that would be a disaster. But it's a lake, so why not build a large shipyard there to build a large offshore vessel to salvage the shipwreck?

Don't think there aren't any shipwrecks in these lakes; they hold more treasure than the ocean! These large lakes were important transportation routes in ancient times. Last century, a storm in Olkhon Bay on Lake Baikal left over a hundred shipwrecks washed ashore, demonstrating just how numerous these areas are.

Apart from anything else, the greatest treasure in Russian history is linked to Lake Baikal!

The October Revolution overthrew the Tsarist regime, but the wealth of the last Tsar, Nicholas II, has been discovered to this day! Legend has it that Nicholas II ordered his trusted aide, Kolchak, to transfer 1,600 tons of gold from the treasury to eastern Russia in an attempt to regain power. The Soviet army pursued Kolchak all the way to Lake Baikal. He planned to cross the lake, but was caught by the Soviets. Kolchak chose to blast the ice and sink the gold to the bottom.

As for the Caspian Sea, there is no need to mention it - most of the transportation in Lake Baikal is done by locals, and it has been a poor place since ancient times, so there are not many valuable goods in the lake. However, the areas around the Caspian Sea have been inhabited by rich people since ancient times, and the wealth of shipwrecks there can compete with that of the vast Mediterranean Sea!

Thanks to that damn Caspian Sea Convention, all that wealth is just lying on the seabed.

Lake Ladoga, on the other hand, looks quite different.