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‘Shipwreck’ Category

  1. Judge Sides With Spain in Sunken-Treasure Fight

    June 5, 2009 by jasonogrady

    [crew from Odyssey Marine]A U.S. judge has recommended that a sunken treasure valued at $500 million be awarded to Spain, finding against the Florida-based exploration firm that discovered the haul.

    Spain had accused Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc. of looting its national heritage.

    “I’m pleased the judge has seen that the ship and the treasure belong to Spain,” said Spain’s Culture Minister, Ángeles González-Sinde. “This sets a precedent for the future.”

    Dozens of sunken colonial-era Spanish ships are thought to lie on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. The Spanish government is keen to stop its wrecks from being picked over by the growing number of private treasure-hunting companies.

    Odyssey said it would appeal the recommendation, which was sought by the federal judge who will now rule on the case. “I’m very surprised,” the company’s founder and chief executive, Greg Stemm, said in a statement. “Odyssey has done everything by the book.”

    Using underwater robots and sonar scans, Odyssey found the haul of nearly 600,000 gold and silver coins off the coast of Portugal in March 2007. The company flew the 17 tons of coins from Gibraltar to its base in Tampa, Florida.

    Odyssey, which says it is a marine-archaeology company and not just a treasure-seeker, initially refused to reveal exactly where it had found the treasure, claiming that the site would be endangered by the disclosure. It also said it was impossible to say which ship the treasure had come from. It codenamed the site “Black Swan.”

    Source: WSJ

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  2. Spain claims $500M in shipwreck coins

    May 9, 2008 by admin

    http://www.underwaterhangover.com/images/odyssey-marine-exploration_1822.jpg

    MADRID, Spain (AP) – Spain is laying formal claim to a shipwreck that yielded an estimated $500 million in treasure. Spain claims it has proof the vessel is Spanish and wants a Florida deep-sea exploration firm that recovered the booty give it all back.

    Spanish officials say the 19th-century shipwreck at the heart of a year-old dispute with Odyssey Marine Exploration of Tampa is without a doubt the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes. The Spanish warship was sunk by the British navy southwest of Portugal in 1804 with more than 200 people on board.

    A U.S. federal judge will convene the two parties to review the case before deciding who gets to keep the treasure, now held in a warehouse in Tampa.

    Odyssey officials maintain there isn’t enough evidence to prove the vessel is the Mercedes, mainly because there is no hull. They say they’ve found only cargo from a shipwreck, not the actual vessel.

    Source: AP

    Tonnen solcher Goldmünzen vermut das Odyssey-Team an Bord des britischen Kriegsschiffs Sussex

    Odyssey Marine has an FAQ about the shipwreck, code-named “Black Swan,” on their Web site.

    Since the announcement by Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. (AMEX:OMR) of the recovery of over 500,000 coins from the shipwreck code-named “Black Swan“, intense international media coverage has led to many questions that the Company would like to address. In addition to the following questions and answers, additional information on the shipwreck can be accessed in the “Black Swan Question and Answer” section of Odyssey’s website at shipwreck.net, or a copy may be obtained by contacting the Company.

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