Exactly. And if Spain was so concerned about the loot, they would have bothered to look for it. After 200 years of non-action, they gave up their claim.
If the salvagers lose the appeal, they should skip off with the loot and dump in the deepest trench in the ocean. Let Spain suck on that.
pontiac is right...if higher courts reverse this it will be a reversal of quite a bit of precedence regarding warships
many cases already heard on this regarding foreign vessels and even CSA warships which the USN claims
what has made this so vexing now is technology has made heretofore unreachable wrecks reachable if the find is big enough
common sense would say that the wreckers deserve big compensation but so far that is not the case
even if you have grandpa’s gyro from a sunk military vessel the government could claim it and win
....abandoned propriety!