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U.S. ship held in $500M booty row
CNN ^ | 17 October 2007 | Al Goodman

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 ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Foreign Affairs; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: blackswan; booty; bootycall; bootycalls; florida; gibraltar; godsgravesglyphs; odysseyexplorer; odysseymarine; shakeyourbooty; spain; tampa; treasure
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To: QQQQ

Perhaps you mean fiddled or harped from America... lol I know, what a smart bleep


21 posted on 10/17/2007 7:28:36 AM PDT by DariusBane (Shock and Awe used to mean something! (Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Tokyo and Dresden))
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To: Freeport

How many marines want to die for this guys gold?


22 posted on 10/17/2007 7:29:46 AM PDT by DariusBane (Shock and Awe used to mean something! (Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Tokyo and Dresden))
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To: Sax

.


23 posted on 11/16/2007 6:37:55 AM PST by Sax
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To: StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; decimon; 1010RD; 21twelve; 24Karet; 2ndDivisionVet; ...
Note: this topic is from 10/17/2007 . Thanks Freeport.

24 posted on 05/15/2015 10:07:38 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (What do we want? REGIME CHANGE! When do we want it? NOW!)
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To: SunkenCiv

Harrr!


25 posted on 05/15/2015 12:21:01 PM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Hopefully they'll get this row straightened out.

26 posted on 05/15/2015 2:12:15 PM PDT by Ken H (What happens on the internet stays on the internet.)
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To: Freeport

Millions for defense, but not one red cent for tribute.

Looks like the Barbary pirates have moved across the Med to Spain.


27 posted on 05/15/2015 3:21:40 PM PDT by wildbill (If you check behind the shower curtain for a murderer, and find one.... what's yoIur plan?)
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To: Freeport; SunkenCiv
Please note this post is from 2007. In 2012 a U.S. federal court ruled in Spain's favor that the gold did indeed belong to it and the gold was returned to Spain.

By the law of the sea the cargo of national naval ships belongs to that nation.

28 posted on 05/15/2015 4:10:27 PM PDT by colorado tanker
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To: colorado tanker

Screw that court and screw Spain. If Spain wants the ill-gotten gain from its colonial period off the ocean floor, it can pay to do it. They hadn’t lifted a finger in the subsequent centuries — just as during their colonial heyday, they’ll rob whomever they like.


29 posted on 05/16/2015 2:48:36 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (What do we want? REGIME CHANGE! When do we want it? NOW!)
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To: Freeport

I’m not really sure why anybody bothers to hunt for sunken treasure. The legal picture is such a nightmare, with the country of the ship, the country nearest the wreck, and your own country all claiming most if not all of the treasure. Really the worst thing that can happen to a treasure hunter is they actually find some.


30 posted on 05/16/2015 2:53:16 PM PDT by discostu (Bobby, I'm sorry you have a head like a potato.)
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To: Freeport

Isnt Spain one of the PIGS?

Why should US soldiers defend an non-federal issue? Tired of risking our soldiers, whether for multinationals or stupid people who go to dangerous places.


31 posted on 05/16/2015 2:54:23 PM PDT by Chickensoup (Leftist totalitarian fascism is on the move.)
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To: SunkenCiv
The rule of law generally works for the best. It's what prevents salvers from disturbing the wrecks at the bottom of Ironbottom Sound and other Navy wrecks.

The practical solution is to go to the Spaniards before any salvage is attempted and cut a deal to share what is recovered. I agree it sucks in this case the Spaniards took it all.

32 posted on 05/16/2015 5:13:44 PM PDT by colorado tanker
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To: colorado tanker

They also seized a ship in international waters.


33 posted on 05/16/2015 5:26:12 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (What do we want? REGIME CHANGE! When do we want it? NOW!)
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