Judge orders $500 mn in sunken treasure returned to Spain

Miami, Jun 4, 2009 (EFE via COMTEX) -- OMEX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Spain obtained an important legal victory in its battle over ownership of $500 million in gold and silver coins that a U.S. treasure-hunting firm salvaged from a colonial-era Spanish shipwreck at the bottom of the Atlantic.

Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. since the spring of 2007 has been defending in court its claim that Madrid cannot prove what the company calls the "Black Swan" treasure was removed from the Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes.

In a ruling issued late Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Mark Pizzo fully accepted the arguments of the Spanish government and ruled that the treasure must be returned to Spain because the shipwreck is, in fact, the Mercedes and so the cargo is covered by sovereign immunity and may not be salvaged and kept by others.

The judicial struggle does not end here, however, because Odyssey immediately announced that it will appeal the decision, which surprised the firm, based in Tampa, Florida.

"We will object to the Magistrate's recommendation," Melinda MacConnel, Odyssey's vice president and general counsel, said in a statement.

"This is clearly a case where there are many relevant issues of fact that have been disputed, including the issue of whether the Mercedes was on a commercial mission and whether the property recovered belonged to Spain. I presume that the claimants in the case who assert ownership rights by virtue of the fact that their ancestors owned a portion of the cargo will join us in objecting," she said.

Odyssey CEO Greg Stemm expressed surprise at Pizzo's ruling and said that the company had adhered scrupulously to the law.

"For the court to find that enough evidence exists to conclusively identify the site as the Mercedes and that neither Odyssey nor the claimants who owned the property have any legal interest is just wrong," he said.

"I'm confident that ultimately the judge or the appellate court will see the legal and evidentiary flaws in Spain's claim, and we'll be back to argue the merits of the case," Stemm said.

Odyssey in 2007 brought the case before a federal court in Tampa and argued that the gold and silver coins found at the shipwreck site belonged to it.

The Spanish government presented evidence it used to argue that the Spanish navy warship and its cargo rightfully belong to Madrid and it rejected Odyssey's claim, demanding the return of all the items brought up from the ocean bottom at the site by the treasure-hunting outfit.

The historical documents presented in the case show that the Mercedes sank in combat against the English fleet on Oct. 5, 1804, off the coast of southern Portugal, and so Spain asserted that the vessel and its cargo are part of its historic heritage, not to mention being the gravesite of more than 250 Spanish sailors and citizens who died when the frigate exploded and went to the bottom.

The Spanish government also criticized the fact that Odyssey undertook the marine salvage operation in secret after having received specific instructions that that was prohibited.

The documentation presented by the Spanish government showed that the Mercedes was on active military service with the mission of protecting the Spanish state and its citizens throughout its existence, and specifically at the moment it blew up and sank.

U.S. lawyer Jim Goold, who represented the interests of the Spanish government, also emphasized that Odyssey was aware that it was dealing with the Mercedes and so consequently it acted in secret.

Among the documentation presented by Spain was photographic material and other evidence such as cannons, anchors, weapons, personal effects and a wide variety of other items, including the coins taken from the wreck, all of which - the Spaniards asserted - allowed the vessel in question to be identified as the Mercedes.

Goold also defended the right of sovereign immunity that asserts the right of a nation to protect its historic sites and heritage, including sunken ships, from any kind of disturbance or plundering by treasure hunters.

Spanish Culture Minister Angeles Gonzalez-Sinde said Thursday that Pizzo's ruling sets "an important precedent with an eye toward all future undersea discoveries."

"We're very happy. This decision is very important. I'm glad that the judge really saw that the ship and the treasure belong to Spain," he said. EFE

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