Coins DIG

A real time story of rivalry between deep see divers and Spanish government involved everything a Hollywood movie could encompass: adventure, suspense and mystery over a treasure that sunk in the waters near Spain.

It is worth mentioning that several times, both, Florida-based submarine team Odyssey Marine and representatives of the Spanish government, has met in the court.

The two has been competing for the grand prize of 17 tons of silver and gold coins, which represents a huge and of great value coin hoard that the Florida team discovered inside the "Black Swan," which is the name of the ship, which dates back to the colonial era and which lies on the grounds of the Atlantic Ocean.

Last week Judge Mark Pizzo of U.S. District Court in Tampa state that the team of divers must disclose the exact location of the shipwreck where the treasure was found and give Spain the opportunity to examine the treasure. In order to protect the interests of Odyssey Marine, the court decided to consider the information strictly confidential.

Highlights of the battles between the Florida-based team and Spanish government over the sunken treasure

The team of divers was the one to seek, discover, pull up and claim the treasure last year in May. In order to protect the treasure Odyssey Marine relocated the treasure to an undisclosed place in Florida. Till now the team kept the location as well as the place of the sunken Black Swan secret.

According to the members of the team they took into consideration all the necessary requirements and the treasure they pulled out was located in international waters. An article presented by Reuters quoted the company as saying:

"The recovery was conducted in conformity with Salvage Law and the Law of the Sea Convention, beyond the territorial waters or legal jurisdiction of any country … We do not believe that the recovery is subject to sovereign immunity by any nation pursuant to the Law of the Sea Convention."

The team's discovery as well as the secrecy of the treasure's current location had raised suspicion from the Spanish government, which claimed that the ship along with coins and artifacts could belong to Spain. Since the very beginning, the conflicts between the two parties aggravated.

Last year on 2 distinct occasions, one being in July and the other one in October, the local courts of Spain in an aggressive manner gave orders to seize, keep in custody and search the vessels of Odyssey Marine.

The court in Tampa was the latest place of legal battles between the two parties. The ownership rights will be announced later this year.