Both the Abandoned Wreck Act 1965, and Antiquities Monuments & Museums Corporation (AMMC) Act 2011, vest rights to both the wreck and recovered artifacts in the Bahamian government. He added that Bahamian law gives the explorer permission to salvage the galleon under the licence granted by the Government in 2018. It holds particular significance for efforts by US multi-millionaire, Carl Allen, the Walker’s Cay owner, and his Allen Exploration outfit, to retrieve valuable artifacts from the the sunken Spanish treasure galleon, the Nuestra Senora de la Maravillas.ĭavid Concannon, spokesperson for Allen Exploration, yesterday dismissed Mr Goold’s position as “not supported by the law of The Bahamas”. Mr Goold’s intervention adds a new twist to The Bahamas’ efforts to regulate, and extract a greater share of the proceeds from, underwater wreck exploration and salvaging in its territorial waters.

The Washington DC-based lawyer, who has successfully represented Spain in previous legal disputes against underwater explorers and salvors, added that the Madrid government was vehemently opposed to so-called treasure hunting and wanted its underwater cultural heritage to be recovered and preserved in museums for the public’s benefit. James Goold, an attorney with US law firm, Covington & Burling, asserted to Tribune Business yesterday that any Spanish galleon wrecked in Bahamian waters, as well as the cargo it was carrying, is the property of that nation’s government and not The Bahamas. Tribune Business Bahamas faces a battle with the Spanish government to lay claim to sunken treasure and historical artifacts worth potentially millions of dollars that lie within this nation’s waters.

Hand of fate sunken treasure