A deep-sea exploration company is seeking to recover a lucrative haul of gold aboard the shipwreck of the SS Central America nearly 160 years after it sank off the coast of South Carolina in a hurricane.

The work that began this week follows a long court battle over treasure salvaged from the shipwreck in the late 1980s by a pioneering young engineer whose efforts were detailed in the 1998 best-selling book "Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea."

The 280-foot (85-meter) steamship was carrying as much as 21 tons of gold ingots, freshly minted gold coins and raw gold from the California mines, as well as the personal wealth and belongings of its 477 passengers, most of whom died when the ship sank in September 1857.