Virginia, Spain vie for right to shipwrecks

By PAUL CLANCY
May 2, 2000
© 2000, The Virginian-Pilot

RICHMOND -- Virginia and Spain threw their best legal punches at each other Monday as each tried to convince a federal appeals court that it holds title to a couple of centuries-old shipwrecks.

Wading into the dispute over who owns two sunken Spanish treasure ships near Chincoteague, Virginia Solicitor General William H. Hurd said both were expressly abandoned by Spain because they have never been claimed.

For its part, Spain said the ships, which sank in 1750 and 1802, weren't abandoned because they were never taken off the official register of the Spanish Navy. And the U.S. Justice Department said it's backing Spain because it does not want other countries to claim thousands of American vessels and military aircraft sunken in foreign waters.

The biggest salvos were fired not by the opposing sides, but by members of a three-judge 4th Circuit Court of Appeals panel hearing the case.

Judge J. Harvey Wilkinson went after Justice Department counsel Richard A. Olderman, accusing federal officials of encouraging Spain to make the claim in order to thwart a private salvage company's bid to uncover the sunken wrecks.

``You talked the Spanish government into making the claim, is that right?'' Wilkerson asked. Olderman replied that Spain contacted the State Department as soon as it became aware of the salvage attempt.

That didn't seem to hold water with Wilkerson, who declared, ``You and Spain came into court at the last minute and essentially blindsided them and ambushed them.''

The case has to do with the right of a marine salvor, Sea Hunt, to bring up the remains of the sunken ships under permits granted by the state.

The judges had clearly read all the briefs and seemed intent on peppering the opposing sides with questions and barbs.

The legal sparring is over a ruling last year by Federal District Judge J. Calvitt Clarke Jr. that the Juno, a ship that sank in 1802 somewhere off the coast near Assateague Island National Seashore, belongs to Spain. At the same time, Clarke said the La Galga, a ship that sank in 1750, was Virginia's.

The difference is in the dates. Anything that sank before a 1763 treaty that turned over all Spanish holdings prior to that year to Great Britain -- and by extension, the soon-to-be United States -- belongs to the U.S, Clarke said; anything after, to Spain. Out of hundreds of Spanish shipwrecks from the Caribbean to the Atlantic, this is the first time Spain has tried to stop salvors or treasure hunters.

David Beltran, Spain's judicial counselor, said his country decided to make the move because of the relative ease with which new sonar devices can uncover the sunken treasures. Hurd said the state ensures that salvors adhere to strict standards, including preservation of important artifacts.

``For these ships now to be lost to Virginia would be very unfortunate,'' he said after the hearing.

The panel took no immediate action on the appeal and is not expected to rule for several weeks.

* Reach Paul Clancy at 222-5132 or pclancy@pilotonline.com