17 tons of treasure

[airsix]

Ha! That got your attention.

Did anyone else watch the Discovery series 'Treasure Quest' about Odyssey Marine Exploration? I'd been waiting for their story to resume when this popped up on my news ticker today.

"Odyssey Marine Exploration has to give shipwreck treasure back to Spain"

Looks like all that work was for nothing. I think the Odyssey shareholders should charter a C-130, have the cargo inspected and certified, then fly the stuff back to Spain and land with an empty plane, saying "We encountered extreme thunderstorms and in order to save craft and crew we were required to dump our cargo because we had no other choice and because [censored] you."

[spatman]

Looks like all that work was for nothing.

Actually, it was for a loss:

The Friday hearing was to set the date for turning over the treasure and to decide if Spain had to reimburse Odyssey Marine Exploration for its costs of preserving and storing the treasure. The judge ruled that Spain did not have to reimburse the company for those costs.

[Grateful Diver]

Wow ... I'd dump it back in the sea ... preferably in a very deep part of the sea ... and tell Spain if they want it, they can just go recover it themselves.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[Norris]

and because [censored] you."

That really does suck though....

[defied]

Yep, I agree with the dumping of it in a very deep trench. The property rights we've developed are very stupid.

I have decided if I ever come across a serious amount of treasure, I am going to keep key pieces, and if they sue me for them, so be it, but I'm melting the rest of the shit down to bars.

D

[airsix]

Looks like all that work was for nothing.

Actually, it was for a loss:

The Friday hearing was to set the date for turning over the treasure and to decide if Spain had to reimburse Odyssey Marine Exploration for its costs of preserving and storing the treasure. The judge ruled that Spain did not have to reimburse the company for those costs.

Yes, that's the worst part. No finders fee, no cost reimbursement. Even if Spain has legitimate claim this seems unjust to say the least. Odyssey has surely expended tens of millions of dollars on the search and recovery. Spain should at least pay that bill if not more.

[spatman]

Looks like all that work was for nothing.

Actually, it was for a loss:

The Friday hearing was to set the date for turning over the treasure and to decide if Spain had to reimburse Odyssey Marine Exploration for its costs of preserving and storing the treasure. The judge ruled that Spain did not have to reimburse the company for those costs.

Yes, that's the worst part. No finders fee, no cost reimbursement. Even if Spain has legitimate claim this seems unjust to say the least. Odyssey has surely expended tens of millions of dollars on the search and recovery. Spain should at least pay that bill if not more.

Agreed. I would hope that gets rectified, and if not, that the Odyssey team mysteriously loses several key pieces which show up on the black market for a considerable price.

[loanwolf]

90 tons of Platinum

This guy here is being smart and has spent 3 yrs getting a medial salvage claim before even letting anyone know where it lay. they will not be able to keep it all but they will get a percentage that will be assigned by the courts. Were the other guys F'ed up is they tried to keep it all without a claim and fought in court for it all after the fact.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/ ... 0T20120203

On this one they will probably get to keep around 40% of what they recover. It looks like Britain will get the rest if Russia did get paid for the cargo. Could get sticky if they did not get paid.

[Grateful Diver]

I don't understand how Spain gets to claim this treasure anyway, when it's clear that they took it by force from Peru ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[loanwolf]

I don't understand how Spain gets to claim this treasure anyway, when it's clear that they took it by force from Peru ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

The winner gets to keep the spoils.

[Grateful Diver]

I don't understand how Spain gets to claim this treasure anyway, when it's clear that they took it by force from Peru ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

The winner gets to keep the spoils.

So if someone breaks into your house, kills your kids, rapes your wife, and walks out with your valuables ... they're his?

Because that's basically how Spain got this gold in the first place ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[spatman]

I don't understand how Spain gets to claim this treasure anyway, when it's clear that they took it by force from Peru ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

The winner gets to keep the spoils.

So if someone breaks into your house, kills your kids, rapes your wife, and walks out with your valuables ... they're his?

Because that's basically how Spain got this gold in the first place ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Many nations have taken from other nations, including the one we live in. Not saying it's right or justified, but that's the way things have been historically.

[CaptnJack]

I don't understand how Spain gets to claim this treasure anyway, when it's clear that they took it by force from Peru ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

The winner gets to keep the spoils.

So if someone breaks into your house, kills your kids, rapes your wife, and walks out with your valuables ... they're his?

Because that's basically how Spain got this gold in the first place ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

If its far enough in the past, yup. Maybe Peru will sue for damages?

[loanwolf]

I don't understand how Spain gets to claim this treasure anyway, when it's clear that they took it by force from Peru ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

The winner gets to keep the spoils.

So if someone breaks into your house, kills your kids, rapes your wife, and walks out with your valuables ... they're his?

Because that's basically how Spain got this gold in the first place ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

If no one says anything different, sad to say yes.

Kind of like this.

[Dusty2]

When fight a government in court you are going to lose. They have unlimited resources and staff lawyers who get paid wheather there working a case or not so they can afford to let it go on indefinitely as was demonstrated here. On top of this the laws are written by the governments to protect the governments so your on the short end to start. They should have kept the location secret and gone to the spanish government and signed a contract for the recovery of their treasure before disclosing anything to anyone. Greed will come back to bite you every time. They should have learned from the atocha and other such finds.

Having said this the decision that the Spanish do not have to pay costs and a reasonable finders fee really sucks!

[sitkadiver]

I have nothing against Spain as a nation, but in the case of lost treasure, they're behavior really chaps my a**.

Has anyone ever heard of the Tresure of Vigo Bay. There are books written about it, ie: The Treasure Divers of Vigo Bay. It's a great book and after searching and spending a hundred grand in 1950's dollars, the divers all came home with nil. Funny thing is, they know where a large portion of the gold is located, but they would have to dredge through the bottom silt to get it.

The Spanish governemt laid claim against that gold also, but for a percentage. Seems like BS to me that the Spanish government couldn't go out and dredge Vigo Bay and get all the gold that was there, but they're too lazy or disinterested to do so. So what do they do, let some other sucker do the work for them and then they get a hefty chunk of pure profit.

So what happens if I locate the Neva? She was a Russian imperial ship and since that time the Russians have gone through 2 revolutions.... Would the current government have a claim to the Neva, which sank in 1813? Aren't the Spanish also 2 governments frmo the crown? Smells like a load of manure to me.