SONAR ENGINEERS COLLECT CENTRAL AMERICA SHARE

Mike Williamson, left, and Tim McGinnis hold the control panel that McGinnis, an ocean engineer, built part of the specialized sonar that eventually found the sunken SS Central America.

Trouble and treasure hunting just seem inseparable, as 13 individuals, most from the Seattle area, found out.

They were the engineers, technicians and owners of high-end sonar equipment who were promised a small share of the wreck's bounty in return for their work, which found the Central America in 1988, some 160 miles off the South Carolina coast, 7,200 feet down on the ocean floor.

It took nearly 30 years of litigation and reams of legal documents before a court settlement got them at least a portion of what they were owed. The last of two payments arrived in February.

For the 12 men and one woman - after attorney and legal fees totaling $522,000 - $678,000 was left to be divided in different percentages.

Says Tim McGinnis, 66, now an ocean engineer at the University of Washington and who was part of the search crew, "It's enough for a decent car, better than I was expecting."

Mike Williamson, a geophysicist, is 73. He was 40 back in 1986 when his oceanography firm at Fishermen's Terminal, one bearing his last name, did the work that helped find the steamship.

"It was a great adventure, no doubt," he says. "But the aftermath, the lack of justice . . . I'm glad it's over."

To read the complete article, see:
Seattle group helped find 15 tons of gold lost on sunken ship. It took 30 years to get their shares. (https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/the-ss-central-america-ship-of-gold-and-lost-lives/)

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