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Jurisdiction Is Issue In Battle For Sunken Spanish Treasure

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By RUSSELL RAY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 18, 2008

Odyssey Marine Exploration, the Tampa company that recovered sunken treasure worth an estimated $500 million from the Atlantic Ocean in 2007, tried knocking down Spain's claim to the loot in papers filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Tampa.

Spain claims the treasure – 17 tons of Colonial-era coins – was carried by a Spanish warship known as the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes and is immune from any claim or arrest in the United States. Spain has claimed ownership of the entire haul and asked the court to dismiss Odyssey's request for salvage rights.

In its response, Odyssey blasted Spain's claim, arguing sovereign immunity applies only to military ships on a noncommercial mission. The Mercedes was not on an exclusively military mission when it sank south of Portugal in 1804, the company says.

What's more, there are no signs or evidence of a wreck at the site where the coins and artifacts were recovered, Odyssey states. The coins could have been thrown overboard or the ship's remnants could have decomposed or floated away.

"As the public will now see, there are many facts that contradict the claims made by Spanish experts related to the site," Odyssey Chief Executive Officer Greg Stemm says in a written statement released today.

The company says the coins belonged to private merchants and that it expects their descendants to make legitimate claims in federal court.

"We find them to be as puzzled as we are that Spain would seek to obtain sole rights to the coins recovered by Odyssey," Stemm says.

A judge will decide whether the court has jurisdiction over the case.

Laws grant nations sovereign immunity over sunken warships in international waters. If the Mercedes is deemed to be a Spanish warship, Odyssey could be ordered to return the coins to Spain.

Reporter Russell Ray can be reached at (813) 259-7870 or rray@tampatrib.com.

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