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Saturday, 20 October 2007 |
Spain seizes Odyssey Explorer
This week a Spanish warship forced a US treasure hunting vessel back into port at gunpoint as it tried to leave Gibraltar in the latest episode in a battle over what is claimed to be the world's largest recovery of treasure from the sea. The Odyssey Explorer, a 250ft salvage vessel, was trying to leave Gibraltar, where it had been effectively blockaded for three months after Spain claimed a share of millions of dollars worth of gold and silver coins it had recovered. After setting sail, it was approached by a Spanish navy gunboat and civil guard patrol ship once it passed the three-mile "buffer zone" that surrounds Gibraltar.
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Amid rough seas, Spanish Civil Guards made two unsuccessful attempts to board the ship minutes after it set sail. However, high waves and driving rain made the operation impossible, prompting them to force the ship to turn round and head for the Spanish port of Algeciras. "We were forced at gunpoint to come to Algeciras," said Ali Nessar, a company representative on the boat.
 In June a Spanish court issued a warrant for the capture and search of both survey vessels owned by Odyssey, threatening to seize them as soon as they ventured out of their base in Gibraltar. This happened in mid-July when police forcibly boarded the Ocean Alert, the smaller of Odyssey's two vessels, and seized electrical equipment, a move which the company claims was an attempt to find data relating to the identity and whereabouts of the site.
This week, following a stand-off, the Odyssey Explorer was boarded and searched for information that Spanish authorities hope could lead to the site of the treasure. The captain of the Odyssey Explorer, Sterling Vorus, was arrested for disobeying orders and was facing the night in jail. He was released after being held overnight for questioning in the southern Spanish port city, his company said.
 The row centers around Odyssey Marine Exploration, run by Greg Stemm, the world's leading underwater treasure hunter. His company trawls the ocean's floors, looking for sunken treasure, which it then sells to collectors. Founded in 1994, its first major success came with the recovery of $75m worth of booty from the SS Republic, which sank off the coast of Florida in 1865. But now it has come up against the Spanish government in a diplomatic tussle that is costing the company millions of dollars in lost revenue.
The episode has left Greg Stemm expressing confusion with Spain’s intentions. “We’re not sure what the inspection of the Explorer is meant to accomplish,” he said, according to The Tampa Tribune, “We had again invited Spanish officials to inspect the Explorer in advance of our departure and they chose not to take us up on it.”
It has also set the archaeological community – which views Odyssey’s profit-driven scans of the ocean floor with suspicion – against commercial salvage firms, whose deep pockets and high-tech submersibles are making it possible to explore underwater wrecks like never before.
And it has reignited Spanish anger over ownership of the Rock of Gibraltar, the tiny British colony at the centre of a 300-year tug-of-war between two former maritime powers.
 The fight over the mystery shipwreck began earlier this year when Odyssey secured the consent of the British and Spanish Governments to dig-up the HMS Sussex, an 80-gun warship lost off the coast of Gibraltar in 1694. Odyssey says the wreck may contain coins worth billions of dollars today. But instead of the Sussex, Odyssey announced in May that it had found a huge treasure in a different wreck at a site it codenamed Black Swan – and that it had already spirited it away to Tampa, Florida.
In May Odyssey spirited away what it subsequently claimed were $500m worth of silver and gold coins that it found in international waters in the Atlantic Ocean. The coins were flown out of Gibraltar airport and are now sitting in an undisclosed location in Tampa, Florida, where Odyssey is based. The Spanish government believes they were transported with the complicity of the British and that the coins may belong to Spain. Odyssey and the governments of Britain and Gibraltar deny any foul play, saying that Odyssey flew the treasure out from the airport in full compliance with customs requirements.
Odyssey says that it acted entirely legally and only after the Spanish Government refused to reach a deal over how to share any discoveries in area. It says that the wreck was in international waters, but it will not say exactly where, claiming that such information could lead to looting.
Spain has filed a suit in Tampa against Odyssey to clarify the details of its discovery, to prevent future recovery efforts and to claim back what has already been discovered. But the company refuses to reveal specific information about the treasure, admitting only that it was found around 180 nautical miles west of Gibraltar. Mr Stemm argues that as "custodians" of the site - which Odyssey has named the Black Swan - they have a responsibility to protect it from other interested parties, including potential treasure hunters.
Mr Stemm says Odyssey is keen to "learn the name of the ship from which we removed the treasure," but that they may "never be able to establish its identity". Spain counters that the company's lack of transparency reveals their intention to make a financial profit from its national heritage. The coins are believed to be Spanish, but Odyssey argues that this does not necessarily mean that they came from a Spanish ship. The Spanish "real de a ocho" (piece of eight) was the international currrency of the day and could have ended up on any shipwreck, says the company, which has invested millions of dollars in their recovery.
 Spain suspects that the wreck at Black Swan is a Spanish galleon called Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes, sunk by the British fleet off Portugal in 1804. Court papers show that at least some of the coins recovered are Spanish, leading officials to believe that Odyssey recovered a Spanish treasure from a Spanish ship – even if it was outside its territorial waters.
Madrid’s US lawyer James Goold accuses Odyssey of engaging in an illegal game of hide-and-seek and has filed suit against the company in Tampa seeking the return of the treasure, as well as making claims on two other wrecks found by Odyssey.
Spain also accuses Odyssey of acting in a deceptive manner by playing down the value of its find until it had been spirited to the US. In its original export licenses filed with the Government of Gibraltar, Odyssey described its cargo as “encrusted clumps of silver coins in a corroded condition”, valuing the coins at $2.5 million, or $5 apiece. By June, however, the company said the coins had been valued at up to $500 million, or $1,000 each, sending the company’s shares sharply higher. Odyssey said it was not responsible for the higher valuation, based on calculations by an independent numismatist. But they did publicise the higher figure. Nick Bruyer, an expert who examined a sample of the coins, described the haul as “unprecedented”. “I don’t know of anything equal or comparable to it,” he said.
Spanish Culture Minister Antonio Molina said Florida-based Odyssey Marine Exploration was made up of “modern pirates” and he warned that “against pirates, there have always been navies, laws and the state of law.” “We will pursue them wherever they are. It is a question of national pride and patriotism,” he told reporters, adding the Nasdaq-listed firm “will not escape unharmed for what it has done”.
 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," said Greg Stemm. "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, commented, "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.
 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.
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 commented. "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.
The battle is unlikely to be resolved on the high seas, but in the Tampa courtroom. Odyssey describes its work as "commercial archaeology" and says that, as the treasure was found in international waters, it should keep 90% of the proceeds. Spain's lawyer, James Goold, counters that "Spain has not abandoned its sunken property and it does not permit unauthorised salvage". Under the principle of “finders keepers”, admiralty courts tend to award the bulk a treasure to those who raise it from the deep. But it is not always so.
Spain has dug in its heels and any legal battle could be protracted. Meanwhile, Odyssey officials say that an undisclosed portion of the treasure still lies in the deep, protected only by its silence.
Footnote:-
On Saturday, the Odyssey Explorer was been cleared by a Spanish judge and harbor authorities to depart from the port of Algeciras, Spain, after authorities conducted a thorough inspection of the ship. "We're pleased that the Spanish authorities were able to conduct their inspection so efficiently," Odyssey Marine Exploration co-chairman Greg Stemm said in a statement. The company said the ship would resume its treasure hunting operations.
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