Odyssea

Rescue

Finding treasure deep beneath the ocean's surface seems akin to looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack. When you look at this kind of business using statistics, you will find that finding a shipwreck is not that big a deal. Between the 16th and 19th centuries, the oceans were the real crossroads of international trade. Due to imperfect navigation and a relatively low level of seamanship, an estimated 3 million ships sank during this period. The ocean floors are thus thought to be literally littered with wrecks. .
According to published estimates, approximately 650,000 ships lie along the shores of the Americas. In recent history, from 1824 to 1962, another 1500 ships sank in the same area with an estimated cargo value of $1 trillion!!!

Companies

This information is of course available to all and so wreck salvage companies started to appear from the 1950s onwards. In most cases nothing is found. The company I want to write about here, Odyssey, is no exception. Its recent history is a case of a complete waste of investor funds. The company is also facing several lawsuits for allegedly inflating its stock price and findings.

Finding of the century

Odyssey recently announced the discovery of approximately 500,000 silver and gold coins at a secret location in the Atlantic Ocean codenamed Black Swan.
However, Spanish authorities believe the find was made in their territorial waters. The ship, belonging to the company (Ocean Alert), is intercepted in international waters near Gibraltar and escorted to the port of Algeciras under the supervision of the Spanish police. In port, it is subjected to a thorough search. Parts of the retrieval system and, of course, all the hard drives found by the Spanish are seized. Surprisingly for the Spanish, the treasure was immediately shipped to the US after it was found.

The rescue group refuses to say where the discovery was made, but all indications are that they were very aware of their actions on the edge of the law. A lawyer specialising in maritime law was on board.
The Spanish also claim that at the time the police boarded the vessel, the rescuers were in a fierce argument over the fate of the valuables.
The US, of course, is protesting the detention of its ship in international waters, which is understandable, and must be done by any sovereign state. This brings me to the law of the sea, which, although it is very clear, is open to interpretation.

1.Ownership of property from sunken ships in international waters is governed by the Law of Salvage.

2The salvage law states: if the salvaged property has a proven owner, the salvors are entitled to a finding fee and to be paid for the costs incurred in the recovery.

3.Law of Finding : If no proven owner is found, all salvaged property is the finder's.

The Spanish, of course, claim that they are the successor country and therefore the entire find is theirs. By moving the treasure to the US, Odyssey is likely to gain exclusivity over the find in the US courts and the Spanish will be sharper.

However, it is possible that things will turn out very differently in the end. The recent claim by the company's boss that their ships have been lingering off Spanish shores to promote the third installment of Pirates of the Caribbean has me quite flabbergasted.

In a recent report on the fate of the Black Swan treasure, NBC TV said of Odyssey that its past is as murky as the waters its ships search. And there's probably something to that.....

All I've said here doesn't change the fact that the wrecks beckon. I must say that I am sorry to say that I know of no Czechs who have attended similar events. But maybe someone here will chime in:)

Elmara