The U.S. company Odyssey, which specializes in the recovery of treasures, announced on Thursday the discovery of a high amount of silver aboard a British merchant ship sunk by a German submarine during World War II.

Odyssey says it has removed over 43 tons of silver  from the merchant ship "Gairsoppa", which was at 4700 meters depth in the North Atlantic, southwest of Ireland.

A total of 1203 silver bars were loaded onto three large trucks in Bristol and taken to secure location for storage and processing. Odyssey does not disclose the value of the treasure, but with the current price of silver would be about $ 38 million.

The "Gairsoppa" was sunk in February 1941 when sailing from Calcutta to London. Silver withdrawn so far represents only "20% of the total cargo carrying," according to Odyssey, which will continue with the expedition until the end of September.

The contract with the British government grants Odyssey 80% of the silver.