Spain lays claim to £250m of treasure on shipwreck

Published on Friday 9 May 2008 22:17

SPAIN yesterday launched its formal claim to a shipwreck that yielded treasure worth £250 million, saying it had proof the vessel was Spanish.

Officials demanded the return of the booty recovered last year by a US deep-sea exploration firm. They identified the 19th-century shipwreck at the heart of the dispute as the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes – a Spanish warship sunk by the British navy south-west of Portugal in 1804 with more than 200 people on board.

Odyssey Marine Exploration, based in Tampa, Florida, announced in May 2007 that it had discovered the wreck in the Atlantic. The so-called "Black Swan" treasure of 500,000 silver coins and other artefacts was valued at $500 million.

At the time, Odyssey said it did not know which ship it was, and flew the treasures back to Tampa.

The Spanish government filed evidence in a Tampa court to back its claim.

"We are talking about the remains of a Spanish navy vessel and the human remains of Spanish naval servicemen who died on board which have been illegally disturbed," the Spanish government's culture chief, Jose Jimenez, said.

Odyssey officials say there isn't enough evidence to prove the vessel is the Mercedes, mainly because there is no hull.