Treasure May Spark Mad Grab By Heirs
Aug 26, 2008 (Tampa Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune News Service via COMTEX) -- Aug. 26--TAMPA -- More people are sure to lay claim to what may be the largest treasure ever recovered from the sea, said Mark Gordon, president of Odyssey Marine Exploration, the company that found the loot more than a year ago.
In a wide-ranging interview with the Tribune about the treasure -- 17 tons of colonial-era coins worth an estimated $500 million -- Gordon said he thinks most of it belonged to private merchants. The company expects the descendants of those merchants to file legitimate claims at some point for the cargo in U.S. District Court in Tampa.
"There's lots of research available publicly that says more than two-thirds of the cargo was private merchant cargo," Gordon said. "We can tell you who put it on, and we can tell you who was expecting it."
Spain, however, is claiming ownership of the entire haul.
"We have always made the contention that there are multiple potential claimants in a case like this because it was transporting goods for a lot of different people," Gordon said. "Spain is saying it's solely theirs."
In court documents filed in federal court in Tampa, Spain claims the Spanish coins were on a 19th century Spanish warship known as the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes, which was sunk by the British navy south of Portugal in 1804.
The Spanish government argues the coins on the Mercedes are immune from any claim or arrest in the United States and is demanding all of the treasure be returned to Spain.
Laws grant nations sovereign immunity over sunken warships in international waters. If the ship that carried the loot is deemed to be a Spanish warship, Odyssey could be ordered to return the coins to Spain.
But under international law, sovereign immunity applies only to military ships on a noncommercial mission. The Mercedes was converted into a freight vessel and was not on an exclusive military mission when it sank, Gordon said.
"If two-thirds of the cargo or more were private goods, it couldn't have been on an exclusively noncommercial mission," Gordon said.
Another major element in Spain's claim for the loot is missing: a shipwreck to examine.
There are no signs or evidence of a wreck at the site where the coins and artifacts were recovered, Gordon said.
"Sovereign immunity extends to a shipwreck, not to cargo not associated with a shipwreck," he said. "That's an important point that everyone keeps missing. There is no shipwreck there. That's why we feel pretty good about our case."
Odyssey executives, after being ordered by the court to provide their best hypothesis regarding the identity of the ship, say the loot most likely was the cargo of the Mercedes, the Spanish warship.
"Circumstantially, when you look at the coin dates and type and the amount, this cargo could have come from that ship," Gordon said.
James Goold, a lawyer representing the Spanish government, said there is no question that the coins recovered by Odyssey were aboard the Mercedes in a time of war. The Spanish government came to that conclusion after examining photos of the seabed where the coins were found, Goold said.
"What we know is that this ship was a Spanish navy frigate on a military mission that exploded and sank in an attack in 1804," Goold said. "More than 250 Spanish sailors died on it. The photographs of what's on the seabed tell the story."
Last week, Peru said it might file a formal claim for the coins recovered by Odyssey if it determines the coins originated in Peru. The coins were made from Peruvian metals and were minted in Lima.
The coins and artifacts are being held at a facility in Central Florida, Gordon said. He declined to be specific, citing security concerns.
"None of the cargo that's been recovered is actually in Tampa, but it's within the jurisdiction of the court," he said.
No matter how many legitimate claims are made, Odyssey will be awarded the majority of the loot, Gordon said. Under international law, awards of undersea finds are measured under a concept that benefits the finder, Gordon said.
"The people who lost the property aren't going to get a high score," he said. "I don't think they're going to be able to demonstrate that they've made a lot of effort and gone to great expense and risk to look for it."
Despite the historic find, Odyssey has lost more than $12 million during the first half of 2008. The company won't be able to realize any profit from its discovery until ownership rights are resolved by the court.
But the publicly held company has plenty of cash to fund its operations, thanks to investments of about $30 million by investment companies such as Strata Capital Management and Fortress Investment Group.
"When you look at who's investing, it's smart people investing again and again," Gordon said.
Shares of Odyssey fell 13 cents Monday to close at $4.66 on the American Stock Exchange. Shares are down 24 percent this year.
Reporter Russell Ray can be reached at (813) 259-7870 or
rray@tampatrib.com.
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