|
|
|
| Current Issue |
|
|
| Resources |
|
|
|
A New Law for Old Shipwrecks
| Article
# : |
19710 |
|
|
Section : |
MODERN THOUGHT
|
| Issue
Date : |
9 / 1991 |
3,316 Words |
| Author
: |
Michael T. Dougherty
Michael T. Dougherty is an attorney practicing law in
Washington, D.C. |
On July 13, 1987, a lifeguard named Peter Leo was swimming in shallow water of Jupiter, Florida, when he was some unusual objects lying on the seafloor in ten feet of water. He dove to discover that the long dark objects were cannons. He had uncovered the remains of a Spanish galleon that was wrecked in the late seventeenth century. He also found that the sands surrounding the cannons held a fortune in gold and silver coins.
The lifeguard's chance find gives rise to some interesting questions. Is he entitled to the wreck and its cargo simply because he was fortunate enough to happen upon it? Should the state of Florida be allowed title to the galleon simply because it lies close offshore? What if the lifeguard intends to salvage the wreck with heavy equipment, causing important archaeological artifacts to be lost forever?
For over a decade, questions like these have been the subject of debate in Congress and the courts, and in legal journals and scuba diving magazines. A conflict has erupted between underwater archaeologists, commercial shipwreck salvors, politicians, and scuba divers--the so-called Treasure War. This war deserves study not only for its romantic vision of lost treasure ships but because it is, oddly, a paradigm of the tension between statism and individual rights, and the oft-conflicting values of free market capitalism and the academy.
Sailing vessels bearing valuable cargo have been wrecked since time immemorial. From antiquity to the present day, seafaring nations have encouraged salvors to pursue the risky business of recovering lost ships and their cargo. Jurisdiction over admiralty (maritime) salvage cases in the United States resides in the federal judiciary under Article 3 of the Constitution. A salvage award is given to those who voluntarily recover an object or vessel in "marine peril" (in danger of being lost to the forces of the sea). The amount of the award granted a salvor depends upon the value of the property saved and the labor and risk encountered in the act of salvage.
Salvage law assumes that the owner of the wrecked vessel will gain from the salvor's efforts and that society will benefit when lost goods are returned to the stream of commerce. In cases in which the owner of the ship or cargo is deceased, a separate but related legal doctrine is applied. Known as the law of finds, it permits an individual who discovers and takes possession of a lost or abandoned object to acquire title to the object. Quite simply, the law of finds means "finders keepers." This law has gained increasing
...
Read Full Article
Look for this article in Ask.com
|
|
