Florida explorers, UK reach agreement on salvaging 1744 shipwreck believed to house 4 tons of gold coins
Arizona Coin Collector
FROM:
http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/09/fla_explorers_uk_reach_agreeme.html
Florida explorers, UK reach agreement on salvaging
1744 shipwreck believed to house 4 tons of gold coins
by Mitch Stacy, The Associated Press
Friday September 18, 2009, 2:00 PM
Florida deep-sea explorers said Friday that they
will work with the British government to salvage
artifacts from centuries-old shipwreck of a
heavily armed vessel, and the company may
continue to make money under the agreement.
(You Tube "HSM Victory Shipwreck Found")
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ul2G6TltjQ&feature=player_embedded
Tampa-based Odyssey Marine Exploration announced
it was giving up its legal claim as part of the
agreement with the British government regarding
the wreck of the HMS Victory, a 100-gun man-of-war
that sank in the English Channel in 1744.
Odyssey CEO Greg Stemm said Friday that the
company's legal claim filed in U.S. District Court
in Tampa has been dismissed, and the company will
now work closely with the British government on
salvaging the wreck, which is believed to include
4 tons of gold coins.
The British government has taken possession of two
brass cannons Odyssey has already raised from the
wreck in exchange for a salvage award of $160,000.
"We are comfortable that the way forward will
include not only Odyssey's involvement but a deal
with Odyssey that allows us to participate in the
project," Stemm said.
Stemm said the company has proposed an agreement
similar to one it had reached with the British
government over the proposed salvage of another
historic warship, the HMS Sussex, which had the
company and the government sharing proceeds.
A spokesman for Britain's Ministry of Defense,
speaking on customary condition of anonymity, said
consultations will be held to determine how to
proceed with the wreck. Options range from leaving
it undisturbed to full excavation.
Odyssey, which in 2007 hauled up an estimated $500
million in silver coins from a Spanish shipwreck,
said it discovered the remains of the British vessel
last year in about 330 feet of water and has worked
closely with the British government on how salvage
and preservation should proceed.
Stemm said in the statement that Odyssey donated
$75,000 of its salvage award to help the National
Museum of the Royal Navy preserve the Victory wreck.
Odyssey's relations with the Spanish government have
not been so cordial. The company has been locked in
a legal tug-of-war with Spain for more than two years
over the vast treasure raised from what is believed
to be the galleon Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes
y las Animas.
Odyssey brought 17 tons of silver and other artifacts
from the wreck to Tampa in May 2007. Spain immediately
demanded that it all be returned, arguing that the
government had never surrendered ownership of the
sunken ship and its contents.
In June, a federal magistrate judge came down
squarely on the side of Spain, urging Odyssey to
return the treasure. The U.S. government got involved
last week, filing a brief supporting Spain's claim to
its cultural heritage.
A federal judge has not indicated when he will make
a final ruling.
..