Posted on 05/21/2007 4:32:22 PM PDT by nypokerface
MADRID (Reuters) - Spain is investigating whether one of the world's biggest-ever finds of sunken treasure was plundered from its waters or from a shipwrecked Spanish galleon, the government said on Monday.
Florida-based treasure hunters Odyssey Marine Exploration said on Friday it had legally recovered gold and silver coins worth an estimated $500 million from a colonial-era wreck code-named Black Swan at an undisclosed location in the Atlantic Ocean.
Spain's Culture Ministry called the discovery suspicious and said the booty could have come from a wrecked Spanish galleon or the remains of HMS Sussex off the coast of Gibraltar, which Spain and Britain have allowed Odyssey to survey.
"Both taking (treasure) from Spanish waters or a Spanish vessel that sunk outside Spanish waters would be illegal," a spokeswoman for the ministry said.
"The Culture Ministry reported the suspicion of possible criminal plundering and we alerted the civil guard (police) who are investigating."
Gibraltar's government said the haul had nothing to do with the Sussex, a British flagship which sank in a storm in 1694.
But Ministry of Defense personnel in Gibraltar said an Odyssey ship berthed in Gibraltar's naval dock last week and a specially chartered American Airlines plane landed in the British colony on Wednesday before loading cargo and flying to Tampa, Florida, where Odyssey is headquartered.
SECRET MISSION
Odyssey said it knew nothing of a Spanish investigation and said that at no point did its recovery mission come within Spanish jurisdiction -- a point it would be happy to prove.
"The recovery was conducted in conformity with Salvage Law and the Law of the Sea Convention, beyond the territorial waters or legal jurisdiction of any country," the company said in a statement.
"We do not believe that the recovery is subject to sovereign immunity by any nation pursuant to the Law of the Sea Convention."
The coins were brought to the United States with a "valid export license granted by the country from which they were exported, and imported legally pursuant to U.S. law," it said.
Odyssey said it would announce the identity of the shipwreck only after it had been confirmed by research and would release more details of the coins once they had all been documented.
Research suggests the 80-cannon Sussex was on a secret mission to northern Italy to deliver a massive cargo of coins to the Duke of Savoy in return for fighting France.
The duke eventually changed sides, which historians speculate was because he failed to receive the British payment and instead gave in to French bribes.
British newspapers have speculated that Odyssey's mystery treasure ship was the Merchant Royal which sank just off the southern tip of England in 1641.
However, the area has always been packed with shipping routes and could have been used by Spanish galleons taking gold and silver to the Spanish Netherlands or even by the Spanish Armada as it sailed to attack England in 1588.
News of the discovery, which yielded gold and over 17 metric tons of silver coins, shot Odyssey's shares more than 60 percent higher on Friday. They were up another 6 percent on Monday.
Good to see Spanish piracy is still alive and well.
Doesnt anyone expect to work for their wealth any more?
The idea that a spanish vessel lost at sea 400 years ago is somehow spanish property is absurd.
You may have forgotten. The current Spanish government is Socialist. This is SOP for any Socialist government.
Hey Spain, let’s talk about all that gold and other riches you plundered from Latin America.
When did Latin America sink into the ocean? Oh, no, when global warming hits us, we’ll ALL be targets for plundering.
HEAD FOR THE HILLS!
Well, from what I can tell this is SOP for any government. If I ever found such treasure, I would just quietly sell it off over time.
“Finders keepers losers weepers”
And all the STDs they left.
Too funny! You stole the gold after we stole the gold!
Spain and it’s Culture? Minister should both go pi$$ up a rope!!
So can we expect to see Spanish galleons massing off the Florida coast? But wait - hasn’t Spain gone pacifist now?
no just portuguese man-uf-wars (or men-of-war if you prefer).
Why? Admiralty law is pretty clear on that. If it’s a ship of the line, it remains the property of that country in perpetuity.
On the other hand, Spain sent a truly humongous load (about 11 billion in todays dollars) of gold to the Soviet Union for “safekeeping” prior to World War II. Oops.
Outside of admiralty law, it is a well respected concept that if you leave property abandoned, others can take it i.e. adverse possession. There is a good reason for adverse possession laws: They improve the lot of all because they put productive assets to work. The same should hold true for assets. The fact that they are under the sea and 300 years old only reinforces that Spain should not have a claim.
Well, sure. But we’re not outside of admiralty law.
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Considering that Spain plundered most of its gold and silver from others, it has no reason to squawk.
“If I ever found such treasure, I would just quietly sell it off over time.”
Yep that’s what I do.
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