US firm forced to return Spanish shipwreck treasure it discovered worth more than
$500m (but at least the Spanish military is paying for its transit) By Daily Mail Reporter | Last updated at
9:25 AM on 21st February 2012
Odyssey Marine
Exploration discovered vast fortune of Spanish 'pieces
of eight' off the coast of Portugal in 2007 from 1804
shipwreck
After bitter
court case, US judge ruled treasure must be returned to
Spain
Spanish Civil
Guard sending two Spanish Hercules planes to reclaim it
at their own expense
Despite finding the treasure and spending more than $2million
to recover it, a federal judge on ordered a deep sea salvage
company to turn over $500 million worth of Spanish coins
it recovered from a shipwreck to the Spanish government
within a week.
The Civil Guard said agents would leave within hours to
take possession of the booty, worth an estimated $504 million,
and two Spanish Hercules transport planes will bring it
back.
But it was not exactly clear when - Monday or Tuesday -
the planes and the agents would leave Spain.
The ruling by U.S. Magistrate Mark Pizzo ended a five-year
legal battle between Odyssey Marine Exploration and Spain
over the 594,000 gold and silver coins that were recovered
from the wreck of the Spanish ship Nuestra Senora de las
Mercedes in 2007 off the coast of Portugal.
The ship was sunk by the British in an 1804 battle and Spain
said it retained ownership of the ship and its cargo.
A U.S. judge ruled in Spain's favour last year, and Odyssey
Marine's appeals were rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court
earlier this month.
The coins have been held in a storage facility at an undisclosed
location in Florida.
Mr Pizzo said Odyssey Marine must provide an inventory of
the coins to Spain by Tuesday and turn over custody of the
coins by February 24.
Spain will have to pay for the shipping costs.
The company will abide by the ruling, even though it 'flies
in the face of all legal precedent,' Melinda MacConnel,
vice president and general counsel of Odyssey Marine, told
reporters after the hearing.
Ms MacConnel said the ruling 'undermined' the jurisdiction
of U.S. courts in naval affairs, and complained that Washington
had influenced the case in Spain's favour.
'Clearly, the political influences in this case overshadowed
the law,' she said.
The ruling would also discourage other treasure hunters
from reporting their finds, she added. 'The items will be
hidden or even worse, melted down or sold on eBay,' she
said.
That certainly won't happen to this treasure hoard, said
Guillermo Corral, the cultural counsellor at Spain's Embassy
in Washington, noting that the coins and other artifacts
were part of Spanish heritage. 'This is history,' he said.
Spanish Navy Rear Admiral Javier Romero said the ship was
a grave site for the Spanish sailors who lost their lives
in the battle.
Mark Gordon, Odyssey Marine's president, said the ruling
would not affect current operations and business plans because
all expenses of the project had already been passed through
the company's prior profit and loss statements.
He said the company was planning for three shipwreck recoveries
in 2012. 'The future of Odyssey Marine Explorations has
never looked brighter,' Gordon said in a statement.
The Spanish Culture Ministry said Monday the coins are classified
as national heritage and as such must stay inside the country
and will be displayed in one or more Spanish museums. It
ruled out the idea of the treasure being sold to ease Spain's
national debt.
Besides its debt woes, Spain is saddled with a nearly dormant
economy and a 23 percent jobless rate.
Odyssey made an international splash in 2007 when it recovered
the 594,000 coins and other artifacts from the Atlantic
Ocean near the Straits of Gilbraltar.
At the time, experts said the coins could be worth as much
as $500 million to collectors, which would have made it
the richest shipwreck treasure in history.
The company said in earnings statements that it has spent
$2.6 million salvaging, transporting, storing and conserving
the treasure.
Odyssey fought Spain's claim to the treasure, arguing that
the wreck was never positively identified as the Nuestra
Senora de las Mercedes.
And if it was that vessel, then the ship was on a commercial
trade trip - not a sovereign mission - at the time it sank,
meaning Spain would have no firm claim to the cargo, Odyssey
argued.
International treaties generally hold that warships sunk
in battle are protected from treasure seekers.
At the time, experts said the coins could be worth as much
as $500 million to collectors, which would have made it
the richest shipwreck treasure in history.
The Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes was sunk by British warships
in the Atlantic while sailing back from South America with
more than 200 people on board.