Posted on 10/17/2007 5:55:23 AM PDT by Freeport
MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- Spain has again seized an American treasure-hunting ship over a dispute with its owners over who has rights to millions of dollars worth of booty recovered from the sea, officials said.
Spain seized the "Odyssey Explorer" -- owned by Odyssey Marine Exploration based Tampa, Florida -- as it sailed out of port in the British colony of Gibraltar on Tuesday.
Armed Spanish government vessels were waiting for the Explorer when it reached 6.4 kilometers (4 miles) off Gibraltar's shore and entered what Spain considers its territorial waters. The vessels forced the Explorer to dock at Spain's nearby port of Algeciras, a Civil Guard spokesman told CNN.
Once in Algeciras, Explorer's captain refused to allow Spanish officials to board the ship for an inspection, and he was arrested for disobedience and spent Tuesday night in a Spanish jail, the spokesman said.
Officials began the inspection soon after. It is the second time in four months that Spain has halted an Odyssey vessel as it sailed off of Gibraltar.
Spain "intercepted and seized" the Explorer on Tuesday under a court order on "suspicion that Odyssey, through its ships, is recovering Spanish maritime heritage, in Spanish waters, without authorization," the spokesman said.
Odyssey's owner, Greg Stemm, could not immediately be reached for comment, but he has previously told CNN that Odyssey has been acting in strict compliance with international maritime laws.
Before Tuesday, Spain had filed suit in Tampa, Fla. against the Odyssey, laying claim to at least some of the estimated $500 million in gold and silver pieces that Odyssey recovered from the sea near Spain in May. Odyssey then flew the coins from Gibraltar to Florida for safekeeping.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Funny.. Maybe we should park the Enterprise battle group with a Marine assault group off their coast and see if they get what it really means to have "Armed ships"...
Finders keepers...
Reading between the lines.
Spain needs the cash to support its growing welfare state...
Or, maybe we should open a law textbook. Just a thought.
Don’t worry. The LOS treaty and the U.N. will solve all of these disputes. I’m sure the World Court will get Spain to back off.
If they want the coins so bad, They can buy them off TV just like everybody else........
LOL—EBay!
Funny that you mention it. Lawyers specializing in Admiralty Law are rare.
Why didn’t Spain go and find the crappy coins themselves if they wanted them so bad?
It sounds like government sponsored piracy. Spanish Vikings?
Of course I am sure there is another side to this story.
Spain (and other countries) have always maintained that the “treasure” found is partly theirs, and have demanded a “cut” even if the ship went down in a hurricane in the 1500’s. Mel Fisher’s find of the Atocha treasure was claimed by the US government! Really, what it all boils down to is money. Not “historical artifacts”, not “history”, not “culture” but plain old simple GREED..............
Pull my finger... No the other one, it makes a different noise... /s
Aw shucks, don’t be so sensitive. Sometimes it’s a shock to learn that these sorts of disputes happen all the time, and that the Marines are rarely required.
I thought the Spaniels surrendered already.
“Stop stealing our stolen gold.”
why bother with the laws of salvage or international treaties.
The one with the guns makes the rules.
The funny part that the same gold was luted from America :-)
If they want the treasure so badly, why don’t they go after it themselves?
I happened to met one on my cruise, who is moving to Fla. to work on this case, no he wouldn’t talk about it.
It’s much easier to steal it under cover of law..........
I’d think Mexico and Peru would have a better claim than the Spanish do..............
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