Chapter 245 What if I find you a boat?

"What?" Chen Zetao jumped up from his chair after hearing Xiao Peng's answer. "You said there's no way to salvage it? What do you mean? Are you kidding me?"

Xiao Peng gestured for Chen Zetao to sit down. "Brother Chen, you misunderstood me. When I said 'it's impossible to salvage', I meant that my current conditions don't allow me to salvage the ship."

"What do you mean?" Chen Zetao calmed down and asked Xiao Peng.

Xiao Peng thought for a moment, then took out a pen and paper and started writing. As he wrote, he said, "Didn't I tell you that the Ansaldo lies 2,700 meters below the seabed of the Tyrrhenian Sea in the Mediterranean?"

Chen Zetao nodded.

Xiao Peng handed the paper to Chen Zetao. "Look, the ship sank in an underwater canyon, on the edge of the Celeno Trench, which is 3,600 meters deep. Just like I drew it, it's now in a half-slope position. Do you understand?"

"Well, I know. Then what?" Chen Zetao asked in confusion.

Xiao Peng explained, "We face many challenges in salvaging this ship. First, let me tell you what's inside: bronze and copper artifacts, stone carvings, ceramics, cloisonné, gold and silver artifacts, the remains of the victims, and so on. There may also be calligraphy and books, but don't even think about it, as they've long since rotted away. Oh, and there's also a stele weighing at least ten tons. Don't ask me how I know this, just listen to me."

Chen Zetao nodded and motioned Xiao Peng to continue.

Xiao Peng continued, "Except for the Huabiao, which was placed on the deck and has now fallen to the seabed, all the other items are in the ship's cargo hold. Give me the paper and I'll draw the location for you."

After he finished drawing, he handed the paper back to Chen Zetao and said, "Although it is a sunken ship, the ship is in a very good condition. The 'good' here refers to the integrity of its hull."

"What's wrong?" Chen Zetao asked in confusion.

"What's wrong?" Xiao Peng raised his voice. "Do you know how to salvage this treasure? First, use the deck remover to remove the entire deck above the cargo hold! Then use high-torque shears to cut through all the ship's steel beams. This will allow the ROV to enter the hull and perform the detailed work. As I said earlier, most of the artifacts inside are delicate objects, and the deep diver can't get down, so the ROV has to carefully remove them bit by bit. As for things like the steles and stone carvings, the ROV can't do it; deep-sea lifting equipment is required. Even if we work 24 hours a day, it will probably take three months to retrieve all the valuables inside. My estimate is conservative; the actual work will take even longer."

Chen Zetao asked puzzledly, "Then just fish it out slowly, what are you afraid of?"

Xiao Peng looked at Chen Zetao and said, "Brother Chen, you're so quick to say that! You haven't understood what I meant, have you? I just said there are human remains on the Ansaldo. Did you hear that?"

Chen Zetao nodded.

Xiao Peng said, "The 'Ansaldo' is an Italian warship. You know that, right?"

Chen Zetao nodded again.

"Shipwreck artifacts containing human remains will have their status elevated. Regardless of the shipwreck, if human remains are discovered, we need to determine their nationality! Plus, this is an Italian warship, which means everything on the Ansaldo belongs to Italy!" Xiao Peng continued, "So, salvaging this ship requires stealth. Do you understand?"

Chen Zetao continued to nod: "I know that!"

Xiao Peng covered his face. "Brother Chen, are you really confused or just pretending? I just told you what we need to salvage this ship. Whether it's a deck remover or a high-torque shear, do you think I have them? If I want to salvage this ship, I have to contact a commercial offshore engineering company. I contacted the Singaporean company 'Ultra-Deep Solutions'. Their ultra-deep-sea diving support vessel, commonly known as a deep-sea salvage vessel, do you know how much they rented me? 150,000 euros a day! This is still relatively cheap. The cheapest rental price for a deep-sea salvage vessel from a European commercial offshore engineering company is 200,000 a day!"

"Salvaging the Ansaldo is, frankly, a theft. Do I dare contact these offshore engineering companies? Can they keep it a secret? Even if I do, how many satellites in the sky are watching these months of offshore work? How can I prevent it from being leaked?"

Chen Zetao thought for a moment and said, "How about salvaging the entire vessel? Pump out the water from the ballast tanks, use air bags to increase buoyancy, and then take it away on a barge!"

Xiao Peng grinned. "Brother Chen, you did your homework! But Brother Chen, don't underestimate deep-sea salvage. You know the Sewol ferry? That ship sank less than 40 meters, yet how long did it take to salvage it? A year and a half! Admittedly, the Ansaldo is much lighter than the Sewol, but it sank 2,700 meters below the sea! Saturation divers can be used to secure the airbags to the seabed to salvage the Sewol. But you're going to try securing the Ansaldo's airbags? Relying on an ROV? You'd be lucky if you could secure one in a week! And that ship needed at least 200 airbags to maintain sufficient buoyancy! Even if that ship is old enough, it weighs over 3,000 tons! Unless you get me a Gloma Explorer, forget about salvaging it."

The 'Gloma Explorer' was a salvage ship produced by the United States during the Cold War specifically for stealing the former Soviet Union's K-129 submarine. Like an aircraft carrier, it had a huge mechanical claw right under the cabin that could grab a submarine and pull it up and run away. It could pull up a submarine from four or five thousand meters below the sea in one night.

Apart from this, Xiao Peng really couldn't think of any other way to quickly salvage the "Ansaldo" as a whole.

However, after hearing Xiao Peng's words, Chen Zetao was not surprised. Instead, he nodded and said, "As expected."

Xiao Peng curled his lips, thinking that he must have consulted an expert about this matter.

Chen Zetao asked Xiao Peng, "Brother Xiao, if you were really asked to salvage this ship, how would you do it?"

Xiao Peng scratched his head. "Brother Chen, you've given me a difficult problem! You want me to salvage this ship? Let's not even talk about how to conceal it from the world. Just think about how I can get a deep-sea salvage vessel! A deep-sea salvage vessel that dozens or even hundreds of people on board can keep secret for me? That's simply impossible!"

Chen Zetao heard another meaning in Xiao Peng's words: "So if there is such a ship, you can find a way?"

Xiao Peng thought for a moment and said, "I can't say there's a surefire way to do it, but there's a method we can try."

Chen Zetao grinned: "Then I'll find you a boat?"