Donna Yates has made an interesting post on her blog about the latest developments in the long running case of the Spanish silver salvaged by Odyssey Marine. In the post, she also looks in ore detail into when an item becomes Cultural Property.

Read it here.

Further to my previous post about the wreck of Roald Amundsen’s ship in Canada, the Canadian Heritage organisation has contacted me with updated information about this story.

From:
Canadian Heritage

At its meeting on March 15, 2012, the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board reviewed the decision to refuse the export permit for the Maud.

The Board makes decisions on appeals of refused export permits based on criteria of “outstanding significance and national importance,” as per section 11 of the Cultural Property Export and Import Act.

The Board issued the following statement:

“The Board was sensitive to both sides of the story of the Maud and appreciated all the relevant information presented by the expert examiner and the appellant, the Norwegian Embassy. The Board recognized the shared heritage of Canada, Norway and the world, and after careful consideration of the criteria under the Act, determined that an export permit will be granted for the Maud. ”

As a result of this decision, the export permit for the Maud will be issued by the Canada Border Services Agency at the request of the applicant.

In an intriguing case, Norway would like the rights to excavate & remove (to a museum in Norway), the ship of the polar explorer Roald Amundsen. So far, Canada have blocked the requests, as they feel hat the ship is of archaeological significance within Canada & needs a proper study & archaeological survey done before any decision could be made. On the other hand, nobody in Canada has the resources / willingness to carry out this survey – and as each year passes, the ship wreck will deteriorate further as it is battered by the elements in its exposed position on the beach.

Note that since this post was written, I have received updated information about the story, which is posted here.

From:
Nunatsiaq Online

Nunavut March 12, 2012 – 11:53 am
Review board set to hear Norway’s claim to the Maud
“We cannot imagine that there’s anyone who can take over this ship”
JANE GEORGE

It’s been more than 100 years since Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen sailed the Maud into the western Arctic, where it ended up sinking some years later in the waters off Cambridge Bay.

But the ship is still making waves.

On March 15 Canada’s cultural property export review board will meet in Ottawa to review a previous decision by the Canadian Border Services Agency to deny an export permit to a Norwegian group that wants to tow the half-submerged wreck of a ship off the shore back to Norway.
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In a story, that is not the first ownership controversy related to Odyssey Marine’s discoveries, silver on the wreck of a British Ship is also claimed by India. Such ownership claims mean that the ship will probably not be raised, as the money from the sale of the silver would pay for the operation – so if the owner is in doubt, the silver could not be sold.

From:
The Telegraph (India)

Wednesday , September 28 , 2011
Didi, bring back our treasure
AMIT ROY

London, Sept. 27: If Mamata Banerjee has the stomach for an empire-strikes-back-style battle, she can request Manmohan Singh to stake claim to silver worth crores found in the North Atlantic and restore to Calcutta some wealth from its bustling past.

Britain’s legal claim to 7 million ounces of silver worth £150 million (Rs 1,150 crore) found in the wreckage of a British cargo steamship is being challenged by Indian historians who say the treasure belongs to India.
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Peru seems to be joining the ranks of Italy & Egypt in their current aggressive approach to secure the return of looted artefacts (with relative success).

From:
Associated Press

Peru wants to know origin of shipwrecked treasure
By CHRISTINE ARMARIO – 13 hours ago
Aug 20, 2008

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Peru’s government wants to know if 17 tons of silver coins recovered from a shipwreck in the Atlantic Ocean last year were made there, complicating the legal quest to determine who rightfully owns the multimillion-dollar treasure.

Peru filed a claim Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Tampa to determine where the coins originated, entering the fray over the $500 million loot found on a sunken ship by Tampa-based Odyssey Marine Exploration. Odyssey has been fighting the Spanish government for ownership of the ship and its contents.
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