5 ms·

When there are three governments with claims to the wreck, do the treasure hunters really a) expect to walk away with anything or b) think the US Navy will back

When there are three governments with claims to the wreck, do the treasure hunters really a) expect to walk away with anything or b) think the US Navy will back them up?

pliftkl 11y ago
If the Colombian government knew in 1982 the location of $10B in gold, it seems odd that they would not have simply seized it. I know underwater archeology is hard, but if you're simply interested in grabbing gold, is it really beyond the reach of the Colombian navy?
- hydrogen18 11y ago
  Have you ever considered how woefully incompetent most militaries are? Not just at defense and war, but basically everything. Look at the Soviet Union after Nazi Germany invaded or Russia during the mid 90s. The main advantage most of the NATO military has is the incredibly deep pockets of the nations they defend. Even then, the US has had some spectacularly bad incidents. Consider that a US naval submarine actually hit an underwater mountain off Guam. It's not exactly like those are small or move very often.
Shivetya 11y ago
Well Columbia can likely be sued in a US court and they will have interests here as well. This is still one of the examples where governments simply rely on their existence and threat of action to violate agreements that they make or in this case, possibly steal. I really don't see any reason why a hundred plus year old wreck belongs to anyone, let alone governments that did not exist at the time of the wreck. You want it, you find it. Perhaps there can be a time period where they are protected by national rights similar to copyright periods, but this is over three hundred years old. If you want a real tragedy, rail infrastructure is woefully backlogged yet government organizations like Boston's won't even try to do it investing less than a fourth of a years requirements because they found out, rail in all forms is damn expensive to operate.
- ceronman 11y ago
  > Well Columbia can likely be sued in a US court and they will have interests here as well. This is still one of the examples where governments simply rely on their existence and threat of action to violate agreements that they make or in this case, possibly steal. SSA already sued Colombia in US courts twice and lost. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_galleon_San_Jos%C3%A9 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_galleon_San_Jos%C3%A9
- MaximillianII 11y ago
  ColOmbia

When there are three governments with claims to the wreck, do the treasure hunters really a) expect to walk away with anything or b) think the US Navy will back them up?

pliftkl 11y ago

If the Colombian government knew in 1982 the location of $10B in gold, it seems odd that they would not have simply seized it. I know underwater archeology is hard, but if you're simply interested in grabbing gold, is it really beyond the reach of the Colombian navy?

hydrogen18 11y ago
Have you ever considered how woefully incompetent most militaries are? Not just at defense and war, but basically everything. Look at the Soviet Union after Nazi Germany invaded or Russia during the mid 90s. The main advantage most of the NATO military has is the incredibly deep pockets of the nations they defend. Even then, the US has had some spectacularly bad incidents. Consider that a US naval submarine actually hit an underwater mountain off Guam. It's not exactly like those are small or move very often.

Shivetya 11y ago

Well Columbia can likely be sued in a US court and they will have interests here as well. This is still one of the examples where governments simply rely on their existence and threat of action to violate agreements that they make or in this case, possibly steal. I really don't see any reason why a hundred plus year old wreck belongs to anyone, let alone governments that did not exist at the time of the wreck. You want it, you find it. Perhaps there can be a time period where they are protected by national rights similar to copyright periods, but this is over three hundred years old. If you want a real tragedy, rail infrastructure is woefully backlogged yet government organizations like Boston's won't even try to do it investing less than a fourth of a years requirements because they found out, rail in all forms is damn expensive to operate.

ceronman 11y ago
> Well Columbia can likely be sued in a US court and they will have interests here as well. This is still one of the examples where governments simply rely on their existence and threat of action to violate agreements that they make or in this case, possibly steal. SSA already sued Colombia in US courts twice and lost. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_galleon_San_Jos%C3%A9 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_galleon_San_Jos%C3%A9
MaximillianII 11y ago
ColOmbia