Can you claim it on the basis of who the ship belonged to? I thought it was only on the basis of whose territorial waters it was in?
Maritime treasure law is a true snakepit. Countries claim it if the ship flew their flag, even hundreds of years ago no matter where the wreck is located. Then it’s always possible that some insurance company paid out back then and then THEY make a claim. Countries go to court against each other, insurance companies join in, and there are treaties that come into play. It’s supposed to be a real mess.
The one with the least rights always seems to be the person who finds the claim and wants to salvage it. At best they are offered a pittance, even though they are the only ones doing the slightest work to actually locate and recover the treasure.
And then of course the museums and archeologists who operate only on emotion, and want it to remain unrecovered, or given to them so they can put it in a box and hide it away like Indiana Jones Ark in the Box.
I bet Travis McGee would know a heck of a lot more about this topic. I’ll ping him.
That’s what I thought...However, in international waters, all bets are off
I was making a smart a** remark...
If you look back through past several years, Spain has claimed just about every wreck found.