Miami, Jan 22 (Inditop.com/EFE) A US firm has appealed against a court order to handover $500-million-worth gold and silver coins it salvaged from the Atlantic Ocean to Spain, a company spokeswoman said.
The Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc. has asked the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta to overturn a district judge’s order.
The Florida-based firm filed the appeal last week, Odyssey spokeswoman Liz Shows told EFE Thursday.
She said the company does not expect the court to rule on the matter for months.
On Dec 22, US district judge Steven D. Merryday gave Odyssey 10 days to handover the treasure it salvaged more than two years ago to Spain.
Merryday concluded that the treasure recovered by Odyssey came from the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes, a Spanish navy frigate destroyed in battle in 1804. The vessel and its contents rightfully belong to Spain, he noted.
Mercedes sank in action against a British fleet Oct 5, 1804, off the coast of southern Portugal. Spain claims not only the vessel and cargo, but also the right to preserve the gravesite of more than 250 Spanish sailors and citizens who went down with the frigate.
Odyssey, however, contends that evidence of the commercial nature of Mercedes’ mission at the time legally nullifies the claim to sovereign immunity of that vessel.
Most of the coins aboard the Mercedes were commercial cargo being shipped as freight for a fee and were never owned by Spain, Odyssey maintains.
