June 06, 2007
Oh, I'm SO looking forward to the resolution of this story!
Almost as good as the story a couple of months back about Canadian and Danish "navy" ships tangling over Santa's Village Atoll in the Arctic Ocean:
MADRID (Reuters) - Spain may send its navy to stop and search two U.S. boats suspected of carrying treasure from ancient shipwrecks belonging to Spain, Culture Minister Carmen Calvo said on Tuesday.A judge in Cadiz has issued search warrants for the Odyssey Explorer and Ocean Alert, two boats belonging to the company Odyssey Marine Exploration, newspaper El Pais reported on its website.
Calvo told state radio she had received the backing of Defence Minister Jose Antonio Alonso to use Spanish troops to intercept the boats if necessary.
"Put in very simple terms, Spanish and international laws protect us and if anything against the law has occurred, we will respond and what was ours will be returned to Spain," she said.
Last month, Odyssey announced it had recovered half a million silver coins and hundreds of gold coins from the Atlantic in the biggest colonial-era shipwreck recovery of its kind.
However, it refused to say where the haul had come from.
Since Spanish authorities cannot intercept the U.S. boats while they remain in the military port in British-controlled Gibraltar at the southern tip of Spain, the Civil Guard is waiting for them to enter Spanish waters.
Why are they doing this? Why, the Vatican ordered them to, to protect Illuminati Secrets that went down with the Galleons centuries ago about how ancient astronauts came to the Incas, but forgot to leave them any technology capable of fending off Spanish rats and lice.
Posted by Steve-O at June 6, 2007 06:51 PM | TrackBackWell considering that the silver and such originated in Central America where I am sure the Spaniards did not pay minimum wage or offer comprehensive benefits to the less than willing Aztec/Mayan/Incans working the mines, I would say their claim is tenuous at best.
Posted by: Mike at June 6, 2007 07:35 PMJohn Edwards' investment group is helping to fund the venture -- they need the gold just for his hair care.
Posted by: rbj at June 6, 2007 07:50 PMOf course the looting of US NAvy ships would be a desecration of a war grave.
Posted by: john ryan at June 7, 2007 10:58 AMBy announcing their intent to confiscate the goods, Spain has insured that they will never see a doubloon of it. Smugglers love a challenge, and the Spanish Navy ain't the world's best.
Posted by: mojo at June 7, 2007 11:27 AMMilitarily, to have something they only have the British, also is very important, because this means that the Navy of the U.S.A. considers that the Spanish Navy, with which has you magnify relations, has incorporables capacities to hers. Now there is a built-in Spanish frigate to a North American group battle that will be able to take Tomahawk. Spain is the third country in the world with a capacity of 700 Tomahawk misiles which they bought early 2006. Spain is the fourth military seller, with clients such as the USA.
Let's all reconsider of what they might be capable of, it's not Spain in the 50's anymore. It has all been a strategy... they haven't put a penny, and have let Odyssey do the job, now that it is done, knowing that it was in Spanish waters, they simply want it back!
Posted by: jason from NY at June 7, 2007 09:16 PMThen they shoulda found it themselves. Or not stolen it in the first place.
Posted by: mojo at June 8, 2007 12:05 PM