American Gold Salvors Spared Criminal Action

A Spanish court has rejected a criminal action against Odyssey Marine Exploration, the American shipwreck salvor that had been accused by Spanish maritime archaeologists of ruining a historic wreck site when it stripped the site of more than 13 ton of precious coins 14 years ago.

The Florida-based underwater exploration company raised silver and gold coins worth an estimated $500 million from the wreck of the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes, which it had discovered in 2007 off the coast of Portugal.

The Spanish frigate had sailed from Uruguay as part of a small flotilla and was carrying 574,553 silver coins and 212 gold coins minted from metal mined in Peru when the British sunk it in 1804 during the Battle of Cape Santa Maria.

Spain, and for a time Peru, disputed Odyssey's claim to the treasure, and after a protracted legal battle in the USA, Odyssey was forced to return their findings to Spain in 2012.