Row over the £2.6bn of gold coins lost at sea
from the Herald
http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/55151.html IAN BRUCE January 30 2006
A diplomatic stand-off between Britain and Spain
has been triggered by salvage attempts on a shipwreck and the richest haul of sunken treasure in maritime history.
The remains of HMS Sussex, an 80-gun warship which sank in a storm off the Straits of Gibraltar in 1694, lie almost half a mile down in what Madrid says are its sovereign waters and which London prefers to think of as the high seas.
Normally, such a wreck would attract little interest other than from historians and archaeologists.
But when the Sussex went down with the loss of all but two of its 500-man crew, it was carrying the equivalent of nine tonnes of gold coins, worth £2.6bn at today's prices.
The money was to be paid to the Duke of Savoy to buy his wavering loyalty as the Navy tried to limit expanding French military and commercial activities in the Mediterranean.
The decomposing hull was first located in 1998, but only identified in 2002. Spain immediately claimed it because it lies within its territorial waters.
Britain's case, meanwhile, is based on original ownership of the vessel, saying it lies under "the high seas".
The autonomous Spanish region of Andalusia has now complicated the issue by staking its own claim.
The UK had already hired Odyssey Marine Exploration, of Florida, to recover the ship. Odyssey anchored a recovery ship over the wreck site last month and began to conduct a survey of it.
ian.bruce@theherald.co.uk
A diplomatic stand-off between Britain and Spain
has been triggered by salvage attempts on a shipwreck and the richest haul of sunken treasure in maritime history.
The remains of HMS Sussex, an 80-gun warship which sank in a storm off the Straits of Gibraltar in 1694, lie almost half a mile down in what Madrid says are its sovereign waters and which London prefers to think of as the high seas.
Normally, such a wreck would attract little interest other than from historians and archaeologists.
But when the Sussex went down with the loss of all but two of its 500-man crew, it was carrying the equivalent of nine tonnes of gold coins, worth £2.6bn at today's prices.
The money was to be paid to the Duke of Savoy to buy his wavering loyalty as the Navy tried to limit expanding French military and commercial activities in the Mediterranean.
The decomposing hull was first located in 1998, but only identified in 2002. Spain immediately claimed it because it lies within its territorial waters.
Britain's case, meanwhile, is based on original ownership of the vessel, saying it lies under "the high seas".
The autonomous Spanish region of Andalusia has now complicated the issue by staking its own claim.
The UK had already hired Odyssey Marine Exploration, of Florida, to recover the ship. Odyssey anchored a recovery ship over the wreck site last month and began to conduct a survey of it.
ian.bruce@theherald.co.uk
A diplomatic stand-off between Britain and Spain
has been triggered by salvage attempts on a shipwreck and the richest haul of sunken treasure in maritime history.
The remains of HMS Sussex, an 80-gun warship which sank in a storm off the Straits of Gibraltar in 1694, lie almost half a mile down in what Madrid says are its sovereign waters and which London prefers to think of as the high seas.
Normally, such a wreck would attract little interest other than from historians and archaeologists.
But when the Sussex went down with the loss of all but two of its 500-man crew, it was carrying the equivalent of nine tonnes of gold coins, worth £2.6bn at today's prices.
The money was to be paid to the Duke of Savoy to buy his wavering loyalty as the Navy tried to limit expanding French military and commercial activities in the Mediterranean.
The decomposing hull was first located in 1998, but only identified in 2002. Spain immediately claimed it because it lies within its territorial waters.
Britain's case, meanwhile, is based on original ownership of the vessel, saying it lies under "the high seas".
The autonomous Spanish region of Andalusia has now complicated the issue by staking its own claim.
The UK had already hired Odyssey Marine Exploration, of Florida, to recover the ship. Odyssey anchored a recovery ship over the wreck site last month and began to conduct a survey of it.
Posted 01/30/2006 6:41 pm
