Posted on 05/11/2008 7:15:26 PM PDT by blam
Harold Heckle in Madrid, Spain
Associated Press
May 9, 2008
Spain formally laid claim Thursday to an 1804 shipwreck that yielded a reported U.S. $500 million treasure, saying Spain has proof the vessel was Spanish.
Officials demanded the return of the booty recovered last year by a U.S. deep-sea exploration firm, saying the 19th-century shipwreck at the heart of the dispute is the Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes—a Spanish warship sunk by the British Navy southwest of Portugal in 1804 with more than 200 people on board.
Tampa, Florida-based Odyssey Marine Exploration on Thursday disputed Spain's claim. In May 2007, Odyssey announced that it had discovered a wreck in the Atlantic—and its cargo of 500,000 silver coins and other artifacts worth an estimated $500 million.
At the time, Odyssey said it did not know which ship it was. The company flew the treasures back to Florida without Spain's knowledge, from an airport on the British colony of Gibraltar on Spain's southwestern tip.
The company said Thursday that there isn't enough evidence to prove the vessel is the Mercedes. Officials said in a company statement that they had found only cargo from a shipwreck, not the actual vessel.
The Spanish government filed evidence in a Tampa federal court Thursday to support its claim.
"We Want It All Back"
"We are talking about the remains of a Spanish Navy vessel and the human remains of Spanish naval servicemen who died on board, which have been illegally disturbed," Culture Ministry Director General José Jiménez said.
"It is the property of the Spanish Navy, government, and people, and we want it all back," said Adm. Teodoro de Leste Contreras, who runs a naval museum owned by the ministry.
Washington, D.C.-based lawyer James Goold, representing the Spanish government in the case, said U.S. Judge Mark Pizzo will convene the two parties to review the case before deciding who gets to keep the treasure.
Goold said at a Madrid news conference that he expected Odyssey would keep "not a penny" of the salvage. In its statement Odyssey officials said they are surprised the Spanish government has conclusively said "the 'Black Swan' treasure"—Odyssey's internal code name—"is from the Mercedes after viewing site photomosaics and video that show no hull, ballast pile, keel, or vessel, and only a statistically insignificant sample of the coins from the site."
Naval and coin experts say they have proof that the treasure, now held in a warehouse in Florida, came from the Mercedes. The coins included gold doubloons, or pieces of eight, minted in 1803 in Lima, Peru, bearing the image of Spain's King Carlos IV, ministry coin expert Carmen Marcos said.
But Odyssey officials said that if the coins are found to be from the Mercedes, it will be "up to the U.S. District Court to determine the final disposition of the Black Swan treasure," according to the statement.
Exploded in 1804
The Mercedes exploded and sank in a naval battle in 1804 as it sailed back to Spain from South America.
Spain argues that the entire treasure should be returned because naval vessels remain the property of the nation that flagged them, regardless of where they lie, under the principle of sovereign immunity.
"Spain has not abandoned or otherwise relinquished in any way its ownership of Mercedes," Spain's petition said.
Spain's claim said artifacts on the seabed, their distribution, and other characteristics, as well as artifacts taken by Odyssey, "further identify the site as the remains of Mercedes."
Odyssey also said the ship was probably the Mercedes after Pizzo last month forced the company to disclose information on the salvage, including the identity of the ship and its location.
The gold and silver from which the coins were minted was stolen by the Spanish from the South American native people. Maybe their descendants should make a legal claim to the treasure.
Maybe if Spain pays Odyssey a $500,000,000 fee for rescuing the treasure they can call it even. Spain gets the treasure and the remains. Odyssey gets $500,000,000. I like a deal in which everybody wins.
Wheeee! A litiguous feeding frenzy. Get the popcorn!
The salvors should get it. They worked to find it, risked their capital, time, and safety to get it, and it should be theirs.
The Spanish had hundreds of years to go find it and get it if they really wanted it.
What really stinks about this is that the dreams of finding pirate treasure, etc. we had as kids would devolve into a nightmare of greedy governments and lawyers today.
The treasure should go to the Peruvian descendents of the Indian slaves who mined the precious metals under the whips of their Spanish masters.
Spain is being greedy and is full of s### here. Salvage law applies, a very arcane part of admiralty law. It is a mess and impossible to tell right now what the disposition will be, except that the salvagers will get something very significant out of this.
If I’m not mistaken Breck Girl Edwards hedge fund, Fortress Investments is the largest shareholder in Odyssey Marine. I also believe Johnny Boy stands to profit personally to the tune of about $50 Million if Odyssey can keep their hands on the loot.
“Culture Ministry Director General José Jiménez”
His name is.....Jose Jimenez.....
... we just haven't been to visit her in a very, very long time.
KISS SOME ISLAMIC BOOTIE
....from a guy in Nevada who can't stand SPANISH!!!!!!!!!!!
They should just go dump it back into the ocean.
I wonder if he wears a crash helmet? :^)
Oh I hope not....
they certainly should not
i am invested in those boys
What does it say about us, recalling a comedy routine from what, fifty years ago?
It would be tempting for the Odyssey to simply say “We put it back where we found it, and destroyed all records of where it was found. If you want it .... go find it yourself.”
Thank God for the memories....while we still have them.
Tally Ho!
When did the laws of salvage change anyway?
I thought in the open sea it has always been and will always remain "finders keepers."
Well, the brave socialistic gov’t of Spain just paid, what, $1.2 million to the islamoscum pirates in Somalia...
Money that will be used to finance more terrorism, and kill more innocents, BTW...
So they want to replace that amount...and then some...and look “tough” at the same time.
Greedy spineless liberal pansies.
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