Odyssey's Treasure Ship: Salvor, Owner, or Sovereign Immunity
44 Ocean Development and International Law (Spring 2013)
Posted: 27 Sep 2013 Last revised: 20 Dec 2017
Date Written: 2013
Abstract
Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. v. The Unidentified Shipwrecked Vessel is a recent controversial case decided by U.S. courts concerning a Spanish historic shipwreck on the high seas. This article analyzes the case and its implications from three aspects. First, the different applicable laws to shipwrecks reflect the diversified approaches to the preservation of shipwrecks on the high seas. Second, compared with American Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act and the Underwater Cultural Heritage Convention, the U.N. Convention on Immunities better defines "commercial activity" by using the nature of the transaction as a primary criterion and its purpose as a supplement. Moreover, warship wrecks and the cargo on board are inseverable for sovereign immunity purpose. Third, a legal vacuum exists for the protection of a former colony State's legitimate interests over a historic shipwreck.
Keywords: Shipwrecks, salvage, sovereign immunity
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