MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Madrid “certain” Odyssey treasure is Spanish
Spanish experts who analysed samples of the controversial treasure raised by Odyssey Marine Exploration last summer have concluded that it came from a Spanish galleon. At a press conference in the Ministry of Culture in Madrid yesterday, Spain's US lawyer, James Goold, said Spain was “absolutely certain” that the treasure came from the 19th century warship Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes.
Coins and items recovered from the seabed matched itemised cargo lists in historical documents from 1804, the year the vessel sank following a gun battle with an English frigate off Portugal, he said. Spain has presented its analysis to a judge in Florida and now believes it will win a legal tangle over who gets to keep the treasure. Mr Goold told reporters that the Mercedes was a Spanish navy ship and therefore protected under the principle of sovereign immunity. He said the treasure belonged to Spain and described the US Company's actions as "morally and legally unacceptable," according to Spanish news agency reports. José Jiménez, a senior culture official, said over 200 sailors and their relatives had died when the Mercedes sank, making its wreck a maritime grave. Unsurprisingly, Spain's interpretation of the available facts is at odds with Odyssey's version. The US company accepts that the treasure is most likely from the Mercedes but adds that there is not enough evidence to prove this conclusively. It also adds that although the Mercedes was a naval vessel, historical evidence suggests it was operating as a merchant ship at the time of the incident ferrying a cargo of freight on behalf of Spanish merchants. Also important, according to the company, is the fact that there are no vessel remains at the site where the treasure was raised, suggesting that at least part of the Mercedes' cargo may have been thrown overboard in a bid to lighten the ship as it tried to escape the English cannon. Despite the two parties having starkly opposed views, there was still some hope for an agreed solution to the courtroom face-off. In an interview with Reuters earlier this week, Odyssey chief executive Greg Stemm said he hoped for a "collaborative solution" with Spain. He insisted that his company had acted "in accordance with all applicable laws" and that Spain may have a legitimate claim to the treasure. In the event that the treasure was from the Mercedes, Spain would still have to prove it was the owner of artefacts found at the site and that it did not abandon them, he told Reuters. "...That is up to the judge to determine, and it is the belief of our lawyers that Odyssey should still receive a generous salvage award," Mr Stemm said. An agreement with Spain could help unblock another Odyssey project just off Gibraltar. The company has a contract with Britain's Ministry of Defence to excavate a wreck believed to be that of the English warship HMS Sussex, which sank in a storm with valuable cargo. But the project has been plagued with diplomatic pitfalls over the status of waters around Gibraltar and, despite a tentative solution hammered out last year, remains temporarily shelved. Odyssey would like a better relationship with Madrid because Spain is believed to hold title over hundreds of wrecks scattered around the globe. "Odyssey always endeavours to collaborate with governments [but] currently, the ongoing litigation with Spain provides a challenge to diplomatic relations," Mr Stemm told Reuters. "We are hopeful that we will eventually arrive at a collaborative solution that will serve both Spain's interest in preserving maritime heritage as well as Odyssey's mission to help restore that heritage in a manner that is both archeologically sound and in line with international legal principles." An end to the litigation could also open the door to better financial prospects for Odyssey, which this week reported a net loss of $6.8m in the first three months of 2008, compared to a first-quarter loss of $3.8m last year. Interestingly, for the first time in recent years Odyssey failed to provide an update on the Sussex project in its results statement filed with US stock exchange regulators. By Brian Reyes – Gibraltar Chronicle
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