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Colombia's highest court rules against U.S. treasure hunters |
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12:32, July 07, 2007 |
Colombia's Supreme Court on Friday rejected demands by U.S. treasure hunters for half of the estimated 2 billion dollars worth of gold, silver and emeralds from the 1708 shipwreck of the Spanish galleon San Jose.
Referring to the shipwreck as Colombia's historical heritage, the court said the U.S. treasure hunters' demand was unreasonable and excessive, and none of those treasures should become private property.
Sea Search Armada, a Seattle-based U.S. company who claimed to have discovered the shipwreck in 1982, signed a deal with the Colombian government, granting the company exclusive rights to search for the San Jose and 50 percent of whatever was recovered from her.
Laden with treasures taken from the Americas, the San Jose, one of the largest cargo ships in the Spanish fleet, sank off Colombia's Caribbean coast in a battle with British warships on its way to Spain on June 7, 1708.
Source: Xinhua
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