MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Dispute over sunken treasure offshore Gibraltar

The governments of Spain and Britain and a private U.S. salvage company are disputing billions of dollars in a treasure believed to be aboard the “HMS Sussex,” which has been resting off the coast of Gibraltar for 311 years.

The remains of the Sussex, a British ship that sank in 1694, could hold the greatest underwater fortune ever found. It is estimated to be worth about 4.5 billion US dollars.

The United States Odyssey Marine Exploration carried out four expeditions in the area from 1998-2001, discovering the remains of a vessel the British government believes to be the Sussex.

Experts say the vessel, resting on the Mediterranean seabed 800 meters down, was packed with gold coins, the value of which today is considered astronomical. According to international law, the remains of sunken ships belong to the nation under whose flag it sailed, which is why anything recovered from the Sussex would - London says - be British property.

But the British Defence Ministry, which is in charge of the project, contracted the Tampa, Florida-based salvage company to recover the lost treasure.

The company's Odyssey Explorer vessel has special robots and other high-tech gear to carry out the recovery missions, as the wreckage is too deep for divers.

According to the agreement between the British Government and the U.S. company which has invested several million dollars in the venture, Odyssey Marine Exploration will keep 80% of the treasure of up to 45 million US dollars, 50% if the booty found is worth 45-500 million US dollars and 40% if the pot exceeds 500 million US dollars. Britain would get the rest.

But while the British government and the salvage company have already divvied up the treasure, other interested parties are making a claim on the sunken goods.

The government of the southern Spanish region of Andalusia has also staked its claim to part of the treasure, arguing that the remains of the Sussex include archaeological riches that, resting in local waters, belong to the region. The U.S. salvage company requested permission from the Spanish government to carry out the explorations, but Andalusia authorities maintain that it should have been up to them to grant or deny Odyssey Marine Exploration permission for the project.

The wreckage lies off Gibraltar, which is British territory but has no maritime jurisdiction.

According to Andalusia authorities, the British government and U.S. company must prove that any treasure brought to the surface belonged to the Sussex, and not from another of the many ships that sank in the area over the centuries.

HMS Sussex, which was leading a fleet of 13 ships, capsized in a violent storm in 1694. It was said to have carried a large fortune to bribe the Duke of Savoy to side with England, Spain, Holland, Sweden and the Holy Roman Empire against France.