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Plundering the oceans: Who rules the waves?

  • Story Highlights
  • Modern day deep-sea treasure hunting is a high-cost, high-risk business
  • Spanish government and archeologists believe it to be a form of cultural theft
  • $500 million discovered at an undisclosed wreck in the Atlantic
  • International tensions and accusations of extortion surround the hoard
  • Next Article in World »
By Dean Irvine
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LONDON, England (CNN) -- A sunken galleon, modern-day treasure hunters, a fortune in silver coins and the Spanish navy.

Facing up to a Spanish warship: Odyssey's battle with Spain continues in the high-stakes world of "commercial archeology."

It sounds like the recipe for a great swashbuckling yarn, but is actually the cast and crew of a real-life struggle for millions of dollars worth of lost treasure currently being played out on the high seas.

Rather than cut-throat pirates following maps to mysterious coordinates, these days the search for undiscovered riches beneath the waves is being led by well-funded private companies.

This week a Spanish warship held an American treasure hunting vessel, the Odyssey Explorer at gunpoint, ordering it to return to port in Algeciras, Spain, where it was searched for clues as to the whereabouts of a shipwreck that has uncovered a fortune in treasure.

It was the latest episode in a battle between the salvage vessel's owners, Odyssey Marine Exploration, and the Spanish authorities, sparked by Odyssey's recovery of 17 tons of silver Spanish coins worth an estimated $500 million in May this year.

Such an incredible haul has attracted plenty of interest in Odyssey's activities and drawn attention to the methods and means of modern day treasure hunters and what they euphemistically call "commercial archeology."

Spain's culture minister Cesar Antonio Molina said the government viewed Odyssey's work as modern-day piracy, claiming it had the right to all its historical property under international law. Odyssey countered that it had acted in accordance with the U.N. Laws of the Sea in recovering the coins from the as yet unidentified wreck it has code named "Black Swan."

All sea-born treasure hunters are bound by the U.N. Law of the Sea. Even if a claimant for any salvage does come forward, under the Law of Salvage, the company that finds and recovers the treasure is entitled to a whopping 90 percent of the find.

On the surface the conflict seems to have arisen between Spain and Odyssey over the location and identity of the wreck. Odyssey has refused to make public its position, apart from saying it lies 180 nautical miles west of Gibraltar in international waters. As well as claims to its cultural history, Spanish authorities claim that the wreck is actually in Spanish waters.

Adding some additional spice to the dispute and rekindling centuries-old maritime rivalries, the Spanish government has accused Britain of being complicit in transporting the sunken treasure to Odyssey Maritime Exploration's base in Tampa, Florida as it was flown out of Gibraltar.

Extortion, cloaks and daggers

But Odyssey believes there is a more sinister force at work that trying to scupper their operations, one that began before the dive of another wreck, the 17th century English vessel, the HMS Sussex.

"I don't think this situation is driven by the Spanish government as much as by individuals who have another agenda," Odyssey co-founder Greg Stemm told CNN.

"A few years ago we were approached by a couple of relatively powerful people in Spain and told if they were included in the HMS Sussex project all issues would go away, but if they weren't they would cause all sorts of legal and political problems; that's about the time all the political and legal problems started for us."

Odyssey say they had worked in harmony and by all the rules with the Spanish government for years before all the trouble started.

"We've tended to be very gracious with the Spanish government. I don't believe they are working from all the facts, but when they do find out, I hope they'll pursue these extortionists with the vigor they've gone after Odyssey."

Marine archeologist Joe Flatman, of UCL, told CNN: "With such huge amounts of money involved in salvage work, it's a booming area,"

"There are all sorts of organizations around the world that simply avoid the bad press that Odyssey gets, by not talking to anyone about anything. It can be incredibly hard to find out what's going on or even find out who is behind some of these companies. They are so well guarded," said Flatman.

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As for future operations, Stemm estimates there are about 3,000 good wrecks yet to be excavated that will keep their company, and their rivals, busy.

Stemm says the reason for not making public the location of the "Black Swan" is because of other less scrupulous salvage companies who have a history of "ripping wrecks to shreds with no regard for archeology."

"While we're getting criticized for doing the right thing, others are getting away with things that aren't legal. How much does that encourage you to do the right thing?" said Stemm.

Treasure recovery is a high-cost, high-risk business, and locating a site and excavating it can take years. But for all the hi-tech diving equipment and deep-sea exploratory equipment, perhaps the most valuable addition to Odyssey's kit at the moment is its legal team.

The dispute with Spain has already gone to a federal court in the U.S. and it looks like it will be down to the legal teams to clear up the murky waters of who has rights to what.

Cultural theft or fair game?

It's not just a tug of war between treasure hunters and governments, another group are adding their voice to the chorus of disapproval of the practices of private treasure hunters; curators and archeologists who claim that treasure hunting is another form of cultural theft.

"Commercial treasure hunters haven't got a great track record," Dr Damien Robinson of the Center for Maritime Archeology at Oxford University told CNN.

"In 1999, a treasure hunter called Mike Hatcher uncovered some really interesting sites in the South China Sea, including rare porcelain from the Tek Sing, but dealt with the treasure with absolute contempt."

Even though Odyssey have archeologists on their salvage vessels and advise throughout the project there are doubts that historical record is high up the list of priorities for treasure hunting companies.

"I can cope with Odyssey being out there doing their thing because they are not as bad as some other such organizations," said Flatman.

"From what I can see, Odyssey have broken no laws, but one possibility to protect salvage in the future might be for the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage to be ratified."

So far only 16 states including Spain have signed it -- the UK and U.S. have not -- and it needs four more for it to be ratified.

"You might think the UK government hadn't signed up because it wanted to exploit the value of this treasure ship. The UK is still claiming that the HMS Sussex is a sovereign warship," said Robinson.

As for the fate of the "Black Swan," Spanish media have suggested the wreck could be the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes, however other reports have said the $500 million haul could be from the English ship, the Merchant Royal that was carrying stolen Spanish treasure when it sank in 1641.

If that was the case the UK might claim sovereign right to the ship, the Spanish could continue to claim it is part of its cultural heritage, Odyssey meanwhile will stay tight-lipped and claim finders keepers. E-mail to a friend E-mail to a friend

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