One of the most valuable sunken treasures ever found was on its way back to Spain aboard two military aircraft ending a five-year legal battle with the treasure's US -based discoverers.
Valued at some $500 million, the treasure, 595,000 silver and gold coins, along with religious images and chests, was aboard two Spanish Hercules transport planes which left MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa overnight Thursday to Friday and were expected to arrive at Torrejon Air Base near Madrid around noon Saturday.
Miguel Morer, press spokesman for the Spanish Defense Ministry, said special packaging is being used to store the treasure in seawater and a liquid chemical to protect it from deterioration.
"All this is in very poor condition because it has spent the past 208 years submerged and it still is submerged just to preserve it," he said.
The haul was discovered by Florida-based Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc in 2007 in the wreck of the Spanish frigate "Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes," sunk by British warships near the Straits of Gibraltar during the Battle of Cape Santa Maria in October 1804..
Odyssey shipped the treasure to the United States without notifying any government authorities, sparking a legal tussle with the Spanish government.
Spain was finally allowed to take control of the treasure on February 18, when US District Court Judge Mark Pizzo in Tampa denied Odyssey's claim for $412,814 in storage and preservation fees from the Spanish government.
During the five-year court battle US federal courts ruled that regardless of who discovered the ship and where its treasure was stored, US treaties define it as remaining the property of the country of origin.
The US courts ruled that the country of origin was Spain -- even though the coins were minted in Peru, which at the time was a Spanish colony.
On Friday the Peruvian government appealed to the US Supreme Court for an emergency order to halt the transfer so they can stake a claim to the treasure.
Lima's envoy in Washington, Harold Forsyth, acknowledged it was a long shot, but told reporters that he wanted to set a legal precedent.
Odyssey officials said the February 18 court ruling could undermine Spain's cultural heritage.
Spain "has failed to consider that in the future no one will be incentivized to report underwater finds," Odyssey officials said in a statement.
"Anything found with a potential Spanish interest will be hidden or even worse, melted down or sold on eBay."
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