Taking steps that could be considered more procedural in impact, U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday made several rulings in relationship to the Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. v. The Unidentified Shipwrecked Vessel (Spain) case.

As you may recall from past HuntTreasure.net articles, this series of events started in May of 2007, when the treasure hunting company Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. discovered approximately 17 tons of treasure. It consisted mostly of Colonial-era gold and silver coins, potentially worth up to an estimated 500 million dollars.

The situation became quite "combative", in a sense at one point. In October, the country of Spain officially and forcefully detained a ship belonging to Odyssey, and escorted it to a Spanish port. There police boarded the vessel, escorted the sailors off, and arrested the captain.

At issue is Spain’s claim that if the treasure was found in Spanish waters, or was of Spanish origin, it belongs to that country. Odyssey maintains that the treasure ship, code named “Black Swan”, was located in international waters, and therefore not subject to Spain’s control.

The six count ruling included decisions not to grant Odyssey’s request for a declaration that the “shipwrecked vessel and artifacts are beyond territorial waters of any nation and subject to the law of abandonment, finds, or salvage”. Also denied was Odyssey’s request for damages arising from acts of the country of Spain.

In an Odyssey release following the ruling, CEO Greg Stemm commented:

The Court’s denial of certain Counts of the complaints relates only to jurisdiction. The Judge did not determine that Odyssey has no right to damages against Spain as a result of Spain’s illegal actions against Odyssey and its vessels, only that he does not have the authority to award such damages.

Of more important note was the ruling of refusal to grant Spain’s motion to dismiss Odyssey’s claim for “possession and ownership of a shipwrecked vessel and artifacts recovered from the vessel”.

While this case is certain to continue for some time, it is certain that neither party will willingly give up their claim for such a great treasure. For future updates on this story, keep coming back to HuntTreasure.net.