Sinking of HMS Victory 1744

The attorneys for Odyssey Marine Exploration have been keeping busy. In February we posted about the end of a multi-year legal battle between Spain and Odyssey Marine Exploration over $500m in gold and silver coins and other artifacts from the wreck of the Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes.  Odyssey Marine lost the various court cases and had to return the coins to Spain.  To avoid this sort of problem in the future, Odyssey negotiated an agreement with Great Britain to salvage HMS Victory, which sank in 1744.  (This ship named Victory preceded Nelson’s ship of the same name, which is now a museum ship in Portsmouth, UK.)  Odyssey would receive a percentage of the valuables aboard HMS Victory, including gold coins which may now be worth £500 million.

By negotiating an agreement in advance, everything should go smoothly. Or may be not.  A group of archaeologists, including Lord Renfew of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Cambridge, are now accusing the British Ministry of Defense of allowing Odyssey to “plunder” the shipwreck and are threatening legal action to stop the salvage.

Archaeologists accuse MoD of allowing US company to ‘plunder’ shipwreck

Lord Renfrew, a Cambridge academic, said: “That is against the Unesco convention, in particular against the annexe, which states that underwater cultural heritage may not be sold off or exploited for commercial gain. Odyssey is a commercial salvager. It’s not clear that payment could be obtained other than by the sale of the artefacts which are raised – which, of course, is how Odyssey has operated in the past. To raise artefacts simply for sale would be regarded by most responsible archaeologists as plundering.”

Odyssey discovered the location of the ship in May of 2008 in 330 feet of water in the English Channel.   However the salvage proceeds, there are concerns that the nets of fishing trawlers are damaging the wreck.

Wreck of HMS Victory endangered by trawler fleets

Thanks to Alaric Bond for contributing to the post.