Battles at sea usually last a few hours. Battles in court can last far, far longer. In the Battle of Santa Maria on October 5, 1804, when a British squadron attacked a Spanish treasure fleet, the ship Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes blew up within ten minutes of the battle commencing, killing all but 40 of her 240 crew and sending her cargo of gold and silver coins to the bottom. The legal battle over the recovered cargo would go on for over two centuries, finally ending in February of 2012.
Recently the government of Colombia has announced that they have located the galleon San José, which blew up in 1708 in a battle with the British, sinking with a cargo worth an estimated $4 billion to $17 billion. The long lost wreck has often been referred to as the “Holy Grail of Shipwrecks.” Assuming that the claim is accurate, the legal battle, which has already simmered along for 30 years, will come to a full boil. The U.S.-based salvage company Sea Search Armada (SSA) had previously been contracted to find the ship and claims that it succeeded before the Colombian government changed the terms of the deal. SSA will no doubt file a suit, and they are not alone.
The ship itself was Spanish, so Spain may have a claim to the treasure. Likewise, most of the silver came a mine in current-day Bolivia and much of the gold was from Peru. Don’t these nations deserve a share of the bounty? No doubt the courts will decide, in the fullness of time.
A good story about a really lnteresting time in history!
No matter how long they take, court cases such as this are fascinating because, in their search for treasure in dry courtrooms rather than on the ocean bottom, they bring much additional history — incidents, judgments, and personalities from the past — to the surface as well.
I think the winners will be the legal companies. Win or loose they will have their slice of the action.