A treasure hunter from Maine says he has located and will soon start salvaging what he's calling the most valuable sunken treasure ever found.

Greg Brooks of Sub Sea Research says a wreck 50 miles east of Cape Cod, Mass., is that of the Port Nicholson, a British merchant ship sunk by a German U-boat in 1942. He says the ship was carrying 71 tons of platinum now worth about $3 billion. He says he identified the ship's hull number using an underwater camera.

Brooks says he first located the wreck in 2008 and was granted salvage rights by a federal court judge.

He plans to begin salvaging the platinum this winter by hauling up crates he says are filled with the platinum bars.

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