Meeting the Legendary Capt Mike Hatcher

Mike Hatcher preparing to dive during the Java sea wreck salvage

I recently spent av bit of time with the legendary Captain Michael Hatcher. He is probably still the most successful wreck salvor in South East Asia. Hatcher has raised a total of 50 wrecks in his 40 years as the king of salvage. The most famous ones were the Geldermalsen an East Indiaman that sailed from Nanking with 239,000 pieces of Chinese porcelain and 45kg of gold ingots. The most recent success was the salvage of the Tek Sing which sank in the Java sea in 1822. Hatcher earned about USD 25 million from that salvage alone. It has been a hell of a journey for the now 73 year old, who says he has his eyes set on the greatest salvage operation of all time, that will make the sum total of his past successes seem tiny. His next mammoth project is the raising of the Flor Da La Mar, a Spanish merchant vessel that sank off the coast of Sumatra in the 1512. She carries with her a stash of Gold dust stored in clay jars that will amount to USD 2 billion based on today's prices. Well for now that is in the pipeline. Hatcher will have to raise about 20 million from  investors to fund the entire operation. That would be the mother of all salvages and I eagerly look forward to that faithful day when he successfully raises the Flor. What a story that would be.....

Hatcher with Blue Ming porcelain, fetches the highest prices    

  

Hatcher's ship Norma, the perfect salvage vessel