Bitter Row Over Recovered Spanish Treasure Ship

The Sydney Morning Herald | January 08, 2003 | Giles Tremlett

[yankeedame]

Bitter row over Spanish treasure ship

By Giles Tremlett in Madrid

January 8 2003

For nearly 250 years the caskets of gold, silver and emeralds lay undisturbed alongside the fish-cleaned bones of the sailors who went to the bottom of the sea with them. But now the glittering cargo of a Spanish ship is the centre of a bitter international row.

A Florida court recently awarded a group of American treasure hunters limited rights to an estimated $US3.2billion ($5.5 billion) worth of treasure on board a wreck that they claim is the long-lost galleon Notre Dame de Deliverance.

But the treasure hunters are facing fierce opposition from Spain and France as they fight for absolute ownership of the cargo, which the Spanish king Charles III was sending home from his New World empire.

The Deliverance was caught by a hurricane as it passed near the Florida Keys on November 1, 1755, a day after setting sail from Havana with treasures extracted from mines in Mexico, Peru and Colombia. Many of its crew of 500 who survived the wreck were reportedly eaten by Florida's cannibalistic Calusa tribe.

Now, nearly 250 years later, the Portland-based Sub Sea Research company claims to have located the Deliverance, lying 70 metres underwater about 65 kilometres off Key West.

The remains of the 50-metre-long vessel, armed with 64 cannon, are spread over 28 square kilometres of seabed, the company says.

The Florida court decision has prevented modern buccaneers from launching their own raids on the sunken galleon while a decision is made over who will win the salvage rights.

Historians and archaeologists are not certain that the ship is the Deliverance, but the company produced lead sheathing, of the kind used to protect the vessel's hull from worms, in court.

The company also produced a partial manifest for the vessel. This detailed the cargo as including 437 kilograms of gold bullion, 15,399 gold coins, 153 gold snuff boxes, a gold-hilted sword, a gold watch, 24 kilograms of virgin silver, 14 kilograms of silver ore, a large number of items made of silver, six pairs of diamond earrings, a diamond ring and several chests of precious stones as well as cocoa and indigo.

The cargo would be worth up to three times that on the biggest treasure ship to date - the SS Central America. (See story, above)

A Spanish embassy spokesman in Washington said the Deliverance would almost certainly be claimed by Spain under the terms of a 1902 treaty with the US. He said Spain's claim would be based on the fact that the vessel was an underwater grave for Spanish sailors and the fact that its cargo had belonged to the Spanish state.

There is another complication. The Deliverance was a French West Indies company ship, and was mainly crewed by French sailors, and thus could also be claimed as French property.

Rich pickings

SS Central America

Biggest haul so far. The coal-fired sidewheeler sank in 1857 off the coast of South Carolina. It held the fortunes of many of those who had struck it lucky in the California gold rush. The bullion and coins found when it was raised in the 1990s were worth more than $US1.28 billion.

La Capitana Jesus Maria

Spanish galleon sank off the coast of Ecuador in 1654. Its cargo of gold, silver and precious stones could rival the Deliverance's $US3.2 billion haul. Ecuador's government has agreed to split the cargo, once raised, with the Norwegian team that discovered it.

Juno

Ben Benson, a millionaire treasure hunter, spent four years examining the wreck of the Juno off Virginia before being told by the US Supreme Court in 2001 that it belonged to Spain. The frigate reportedly contained 700,000 silver coins worth $US628 million when it went down in 1802.

The Guardian

[grobdriver]

Wouldn't sunken treasure be considered "Salvage" since the crew did abandon the vessel - perhaps involuntarily.
Salvage rights are routinely awarded.
Why else would someone go to the risk, trouble and expense of locating and raising a wreck or its cargo only to have the supposed "original" owner make a claim on it?
Leave it on the ocean floor, in that case!

[Hatteras]

Spain and France can stick it. If they wanted the stuff so badly, they should have been over here looking for it. Instead, they let others do the work and than step forward only if there's plenty of cash involved.

I can not believe the U.S. Supreme Court capitulated in the Juno case.

Where have you gone, Mel Fischer...

[Centurion2000]

This is total B$ .... tell the french and the spanish to go spit in the wind. Ownership rights of abandoned material goods are GONE after 250 years.

[Quilla]

I understand salvage rights are awarded to the first to discover the ship. I could be wrong as is often the case.

[Tallguy]

Traditionally the salvage company would auction all recovered items. Spain & France would be free to purchase the artifacts if they wished. But I suspect they would prefer that a court should order the salvage company to turn over, free-of-charge, any "works of art" in exchange for the bulk of the bullion.

Given the depth of the wreck, the salvage operation is no trivial matter. It will be a lengthy & expensive operation. Therefore, I suspect that all parties would like an "understanding" before the capital is raised for the salvage operation. I'm sure that anybody thinking of bankrolling this recovery effort would demand as much.

[RightResponse]

Ask the French to salvage it (maybe Jacque Cousteau's group)and then send in the Coast Guard.

As is the nature of the French, they will immediately surrender the goods to the boarding authorities!! Win, win.

[DJ Frisat]

Mel died a couple of years ago, after a long series of court battles over his treasure finds. The gubberment finally pinned a suspicious 'conterfeit doubloon' rap on him and got him, kind of a revenge for an earlier defeat.

The state of Florida really tried to screw him. As I recall, when he first found a wreck with a particularly vast fortune, he offered them a cut and they refused. Later they came after him, demanding it all. It kept him in court for a long, long time.

Money-grubbing bastards. They let these brave and determined people do all the work and then come in and try to steal the proceeds after it's been salvaged. And that's what it is - stealing. If you want the money, then you do the work.

Please forgive minor errors on details -- saw a show about this a couple of months ago and the memory fails from time to time...

[mamalujo]

finders keepers LOSERS weepers.....

[Blood of Tyrants]

I am a firm believer of finders keepers in this case. If something has been lying around for 250 years and I find it, it is mine.

[Blood of Tyrants]

65 kilomerers is well outside the U.S. and in international waters. After 250 years, the finders have 100% claim IMHO.

[RJL]

65 kilomerers is well outside the U.S. and in international waters. After 250 years, the finders have 100% claim IMHO.

Good points. Being in international waters for 250 years would seem to put it in salvage territory.

[expatpat]

Quilla, perhaps 'often wrong, but never in doubt', like my wife.

[RoughDobermann]

Many of its crew of 500 who survived the wreck were reportedly eaten by Florida's cannibalistic Calusa tribe.

The remains of the 50-metre-long vessel

500 men on a 50 metre ship in 1755? Surely they mean 50 men, right?

[RoughDobermann]

The Notre Dame de Deliverance, hired by Spain and owned by the French West Indies Co., which is long defunct, capsized and sank in a hurricane on Nov. 1, 1755, a day after departing Havana for Cadiz, Spain. On board were 512 passengers and crew.

I correct myself!!

[sphinx]

500 men on a 50 metre ship in 1755? Surely they mean 50 men, right?

Nope, 500. The glories of the great Age of Sail. I'd guess this ship was heavily armed. Took a lot of men to man the guns. Sailors, sardines, same accommodations.

[hchutch]

Simple rule: If you lose it underwater and don't try to retrieve it as soon as possible, or if you toss it overboard and someone else picks it up, you should not whine.

I would hold the U.S. Navy to the same standard if they pushed a plane off a carrier, BTW. No whining if you don't pick it up ASAP.

War graves are a different matter, but in this case, Spain and France are SOL.

[Chuckster]

500 men on a 50 metre ship in 1755? Surely they mean 50 men, right?

Nope, 500. The glories of the great Age of Sail. I'd guess this ship was heavily armed. Took a lot of men to man the guns. Sailors, sardines, same accommodations.

Yup. Today it would be fifteen, or less, on a vessel that size. In those days, 500 wouldn't be far off the norm.