Charting Spain's sunken treasures

Expatica ^ | December 2007 | unattributed?

[SunkenCiv]

The Odyssey vessel Ocean Alert was seized in July by Spanish authorities and then released after a week. A second craft, Odyssey Explorer, belonging to the Florida company, was seized on 16 October. The company has so far sent 17 tonnes of coins recovered from the wreck back to the US for examination, and insists that the ship was not in Spanish territorial waters... US courts have usually ruled in favour of treasure hunters, given Spain's record when it comes to reclaiming ships... For its part, Odyssey Marine Exploration says that it has always been interested in working with governments to offer its services. If Spain has that many wrecks scattered around the world, then the company should be able to reach an agreement with Spain. That said, relations between the two entities have been soured by the ongoing court case. The company insists that it has acted transparently so far. However, it says that it can't reveal the name of the vessel, because it doesn't know what it is yet. Greg Stemm, co-founder of Odyssey, defends the company's approach to archaeology. He denies being a treasure hunter, and says that scientific investigation and making a profit are compatible... As more than one commentator has pointed out, Spain is currently making claims on precious metals taken from Latin America while it was a colonial power. The new-world civilisations that were stripped of their gold and silver before it was sent back to Europe would, of course, have no claim whatsoever.

[SunkenCiv]

Odyssey Marine Exploration

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[SunkenCiv]

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[blam]

Finders keepers.

[SunkenCiv]

:') Possession is 9/10s of the law. Similarly, Class Action Lawsuit Representatives are 9/10s of the settlement. ;')

Of course, I'm not sure how it's worked out with piece of eight, because, y'know, there's eight of 'em...