Va. Court Decides Against Shipwreck Hunters

N O R F O L K, Va., Oct. 16, 2000 -- Finders keepers — the principle that keepstreasure hunters looking for riches at the bottom of the sea — hastaken a broadside hit in court.

A federal appeals court ruled over the summer that Spain ownsthe wrecks of two Spanish warships that sank off the Virginia coasttwo centuries ago.

The treasure hunter at the center of the case plans to appeal tothe Supreme Court this week. Some say that if the ruling is allowedto stand, it could put countless shipwrecks and perhaps billions inbooty off limits.

“It really is a pretty abrupt turnabout to 300 years oftraditional admiralty law,” said Ben Benson, the disappointedowner of Chincoteague-based Sea Hunt Inc., named for the old TVshow.

Millions in Gold Coins

Traditionally, owners of sunken ships who didn’t look for themwithin a given amount of time gave up their rights to the ships,Benson said. This ruling changes that by saying that a shipwreckhas to be explicitly abandoned in order for someone else to salvageit, he said.

At issue are the submerged wrecks of the frigates Juno and LaGalga, which went down off Assateague Island on the Eastern Shoreof the Chesapeake Bay.

The Juno disappeared during a squall in 1802. According to someaccounts, it carried as much as $500 million in coins and preciousmetals.

La Galga sank during a storm in 1750 a few miles away. Itapparently had no treasure but may have been carrying horses thatwere ancestors to the wild ponies that wander Assateague Islandtoday.

Benson found what he believes are the wrecks of the two ships,and he obtained salvage rights from the state of Virginia in returnfor 25 percent of any profits.

Spain Stepped In

In 1998, however, Spain claimed ownership of the vessels — thefirst such claims the country had made in hundreds of years. TheU.S. government supported Spain, arguing that allowing the salvageof foreign warships would subject U.S. vessels to the same fate.

In July, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond ruledthat Virginia could not claim the ships unless they were expresslyabandoned by Spain. The court cited a 1902 treaty between Spain andthe United States that says the countries will provide the sameprotection to each other’s shipwrecks as they would to their own.

James Goold, a Washington lawyer who represented Spain, saidthat the ruling was not unprecedented and that the principle iscontained in countless treaties involving the United States andother countries. Finders keepers applies only when property hasbeen abandoned, and these ships weren’t abandoned, Goold said.

Goold noted that about 430 Spanish soldiers and their familieswent down with the Juno, and said that Spain did not want theirfinal resting place to be disturbed for commercial purposes.

Irreplaceable Time Capsules

Spain also wanted to make sure the rules regarding wrecks areclear because modern technology has made it possible for treasurehunters to locate almost any sunken vessel, the lawyer said.

“These ships are also in many cases irreplaceable historic timecapsules,” he said. “Too many of them have already been destroyedby treasure hunters.”

The ruling applies to ships that belonged to the Spanishgovernment, not private ships, Goold said.

But if the high court lets it stand, it could affect thousandsof treasure ships lost in North America over centuries of Spanishcolonization, said Pat Clyne, vice president of Mel FisherEnterprises in Key West, Fla., the legendary treasure hunters who,beginning in the 1970s, recovered hundreds of millions in bootyfrom the gold-laden Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora de Atocha, whichwent down off Key West in 1622.

“If Spain can have their way with the ships, what about France?What about England? Where do you draw the line?” Clyne said.“There are so many ships around our coastline that have sunk. Arewe going to open up our waters to all of the salvage industry fromother countries?”

As for Benson, he said he is not sure how much longer he will bewilling to fight for the right to salvage the ships. He has alreadyspent more than $2 million of his own money — much of it in court.

“I started it as something I loved doing versus something Ihoped to make money at,” he said. “I just haven’t decided howmuch more money I can afford to spend.”