Treasure row continues between Spain and US company

Oct 16, 2007, 16:53 GMT

Algeciras, Spain - A row between Spain and a US deep-sea exploration company over a silver coin treasure continued Tuesday as Spanish police intercepted one of the company's vessels.

The vessel belonging to Florida-based Odyssey Marine Exploration was seized after it entered Spanish waters from Gibraltar. It was taken to Algeciras for inspection, port authorities confirmed.

The MS Odyssey Explorer was the second of Odyssey's vessels to be intercepted in Spain since the company announced the recovery of more than 500,000 silver coins and other artifacts from a shipwreck in May.

Odyssey says it does not know the nationality of the wreck, known as the Black Swan, and has not disclosed its location. The treasure, which is estimated to be worth 370 million euros (500 million dollars), has been taken to the United States.

A Cadiz-based judge had ordered the interception of the two vessels Odyssey kept in Gibraltar to investigate whether the company had illegally taken away property found in Spanish waters or on board a Spanish shipwreck.

Spain has taken legal action against Odyssey in the United States.

Odyssey co-chairman Greg Stemm said the company had earlier invited Spanish officials to inspect the Explorer, and that they had not done so.

'We are sure that the Spanish government is now well aware that the Black Swan was not in Spanish waters and that the disposition of the coins is now subject to US federal court jurisdiction, so we're not sure what the inspection of the Explorer is meant to accomplish,' Stemm added.