American firm wins permission to look for richest sunken bounty

An American treasure-hunting firm has won permission to look for what is believed to be history's richest sunken bounty in waters off southern Spain, the Foreign Ministry said Monday.

Odyssey Marine Exploration, based in Tampa, Florida, has concluded negotiations with the southern Andalusia region's government and the Spanish central government. It can now resume a search for a British vessel, the HMS Sussex, in the western Mediterranean, a ministry official said.

The HMS Sussex was leading a British fleet into the Mediterranean for a war against France and its leader, Louis XIV, when it sank in a storm in 1694 with 500 men and 80 guns aboard.

Historians believe the 157-foot (48-meter) warship was carrying nine tons of gold coins for buying the loyalty of the Duke of Savoy, a potential ally in southeastern France. The coins are believed to be worth anywhere from US$500 million ($388 million) to US$4 billion ($3.1 billion), project officials say.

Odyssey had already begun exploration work off southern Spain, but suspended it in 2005 after complaints from Spain. International law stipulates that warships like the Sussex remain the property of the government that controlled them while in operation, no matter where they are found.

The Spanish ministry official said the Madrid government will respect the rule, no matter where the ship might be found. He said it is not clear if the shipwreck is in Spanish or international waters.

The talks with the American firm centered on issues such as gaining guarantees that the exploration work would not disturb other possible shipwrecks in Spanish waters, the official said. The recovery is being attempted under a deal with the British government, the first such public-private arrangement for an archaeological excavation of a sovereign warship. If booty is found, the U.S. firm and Britain will split it.