$500 Million Sunken Treasure May Have to be Returned to Spain

The $500 million cargo of a shipwreck discovered last year in the Atlantic by a Florida deep-sea exploration company may have to be returned to Spain.

Spanish officials filed a claim in U.S. federal court saying they have proof the ship, the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes, is a navy vessel which sank in 1804.

The petition states Spain never relinquished its rights to the ship, and demands the return of the 500,000 silver coins and other artifacts recovered from the wreckage.

Odyssey Marine Exploration discovered the shipwreck in May 2007, and transported the treasures discovered on board back to the United States.

While company officials remained confident they would be awarded the bulk of the treasure, officials for the Spanish government cited sovereign immunity in claiming rights to the shipwreck.

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