Hi-tech Hunt for Sunken Treasure

Authorities in Italy are conducting a hi-tech, deep-sea treasure hunt to retrieve coins and jewels sunk in a shipwreck off the island of Elba more than 160 years ago.

Last month experts used a submarine robot to explore the wreckage of Pollux, a paddle steamer which collided with another and sank in 1841. They found sediment encrusted with gold and silver coins.

The ship, which was on its way to Marseilles from Naples, was reportedly laden with 170,000 coins worth about £12m, according to the Italian magazine Focus. Its passengers included a Russian countess and a Neapolitan duchess who were carrying diamonds and emeralds.

Several attempts to raise the ship, which is lying in more than 100 metres of water and is clogged with silt, have failed in the past.

Part of the ship's hoard was put up for auction in 2000 in London after four British divers recovered it from the seabed. But the sale was stopped after Scotland Yard intervened and returned more than 300 gold coins, 2,000 silver coins, diamonds and bracelets, worth about £70,000, to Italy.

Authorities have banned traffic around the wreck to protect it from further "unwanted explorers".