Posted by bartman27
(bartman- mosb) on 5/10/2008, 8:03 pm, in reply to "Now this really sucks....& it's wrong...."
Moonsnail Master
Dispute over salvaged Spanish treasure
Fri, 09 May 2008 04:48:27
The Odyssey Marine Exploration ship.
The Spanish government is demanding the return of the treasure that was salvaged from a shipwreck in the North Atlantic worth USD 500m.
Spain says the sunken ship was Spanish and is asking for the treasure to be handed over. The treasure was salvaged by a US firm in May 2007 and includes about 17 tons of gold and silver coins and Spain is suing the Florida-based firm, Odyssey Marine Exploration.
A lawyer acting on behalf of Spain said that there was plenty of evidence that proved the vessel was a famous 19th-Century Spanish galleon, the BBC reported.
The treasure hunting firm has so far kept the exact location of the site, nicknamed Black Swan, secret and says that it lies in international - not Spanish - waters.
Spain for her part claims that the ship is the Nuestra Senora de la Mercedes which was sunk by a British warship in 1804, off the Algarve.
In documents that were filed with a Florida court on Thursday, the Spanish government said that the sinking of the Mercedes was a pivotal event in Spanish and European history, and the site and its contents were the inalienable historical heritage and patrimony of Spain.
Meanwhile, in an interview with Reuters, the head of the treasure-hunting firm, Greg Stemm, said that he hoped he could reach a "collaborative solution" to the long-running dispute with Spain.
Stemm went on to add that even if the wreckage was identified as the Nuestra Senora de la Mercedes, Spain would have to prove both ownership and that it did not abandon it.
still going
bm-mi
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