Posted on 02/03/2012 5:36:59 AM PST by Mr. K
MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- Spain has won a major victory in its long court battle with a Florida-based deep-sea salvage company over rights to an estimated $500 million in silver and gold coins, officials said Wednesday.
The treasure was recovered in 2007 from a 19th century sunken ship off the Spanish coast.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta on Tuesday turned aside another motion from the U.S.-based company, Odyssey Marine Exploration, and Spanish officials said they now expect the coins -- nearly 600,000 of them -- to arrive in Spain soon.
"With the ruling by the appeals court, the process begins to recover all of the coins taken illegally" from the sunken ship, Spain's Culture Ministry said in a statement.
Odyssey, which can still appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, said in a statement, "Currently, no final order has been issued in the case and it would be premature to comment at this time."
The battle royal began after Odyssey announced in 2007 it had found the sunken treasure. It quickly laid claim to the coins, put them in crates and said it flew them to a discreet, well-guarded location in the United States.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
agree
Why did they ever make this find public to begin with? What business is it of anyone’s? Finder’s keepers.
Just as Wikileaks said ... the US dealt behind the scenes to make a deal with Spain. How many other court cases are tainted from within?
So much for bragging about what they found next time.
The important thing is that this $500 million will not taint our economy and upset Obama’s overall scheme.
I thought there were salvage laws that gave the finders the loot?
I’d be taking the full cost of the recovery operations, plus a reasonable profit, right off the top.
I may very well be wrong about this, but how would the we feel if a salvage company from another country had found and started to recover artifacts or anything else from, say, the USS Monitor or any sunken US Navy vessels at the bottom of Ironbottom Sound?
I do agree with you, though, that the salvage company in this instance should give the Spanish government a choice: to fully reimburse the salvage company for the full value of the items salvaged or be prepared to go get the items themselves after they have been re-placed in the wreck ...
The coins came off of the wreck of a Spanish warship. Under international law, warships remain the property of the nation whose flag they flew when they went down. The United States Navy doesn't want to see its sunken vessels salvaged by third parties, hence the Government's interest in the case.
The salvage company knew it was on thin ice, it not acting illegally, which is why it rushed the coins to the United States on a special flight.
I agree with you & just put it back in the sea & let Spain find it themselves. Why should they profit from others work product.
The ship that sunk was Spanish.
IMHO..... Unless they were actively looking for it at the time is was found, their claim has no merit.
I believe I saw the shows about this. If I remember correctly, it was just barely in International waters, and they were getting harassed by the Portuguese authorities who were patrolling the borders while they were retrieving it.
Our gangster governments are colluding to grab any treasure found anywhere by anybody.
Doesn't matter if the ship was Spanish, emphasis on the past tense. Once it sinks or is abandoned, anyone can salvage it in international waters.
It’s not possible to keep a treasure salvage operation of that magnitude secret.
give us back our stolen treasure says Spain
“Why did they ever make this find public to begin with? What business is it of anyone’s? Finder’s keepers.”
You have definitely gotten the picture. With treasure hunting you just keep your mouth shut about what you find. Look how long Mel Fisher was tied up in court over the Etosha.
In the US anything buried more than 12 inches deep is considered an antiqity and belongs to the govt. So if you find anything just keep it to yourself.
this case was very likely rigged by the executive branch. There is a wikileaks cable where a us diplomat suggests quid pro quo with spain on this case vis a vis some artwork in spain someone here wanted.
“Just as Wikileaks said ... the US dealt behind the scenes to make a deal with Spain. How many other court cases are tainted from within?”
It certainly was an eye-opener for me in that regard.
No, they can’t. According to Maritime Law, naval vessels remain the property of the owning nation.
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