I always thought that if you found it in international waters it was salvage and the property of the finder. What happened to that law?
That law does not apply to naval vessels, who possess soverign immunity and cannot be salvaged except by permission of the soverign state owning the vessel. Their is an exception for the private cargo that might be carried by naval vessels. That's what this suit is all about, and the judge seems to be ignoring the historic fact that most of the cargo was privately held and being carried as freight by the Spanish Navy.
That law was LOST.