Throughout time man has
attempted to unlock the secrets of the ocean. One
aspect of this quest has been the betterment of sub-sea technology. Working in the underwater world has always
been a challenge. Long ago, our
ability to explore and work was limited to around a hundred feet. In the recent past that range was extended to
a few thousand feet. Today, we have the
ability to operate at depths reaching twenty thousand feet.
The
improved capability has opened much of the world’s ocean bottom to
exploration. A natural extension of this
exploration is the retrieval of lost artifacts. Retrieval
benefits many including the collectors of antiquities, scholars of the
past, and society in general. Retrieval
opens the door on history providing a glimpse of society often
forgotten. These artifacts tell the story
of the human quest to explore our planet, establish trade, and
sometimes conquer new lands.
But with
these new capabilities have come many questions, questions of ownership. If a ship is lost at sea, does it have an
owner? If the insurance was paid and the
insurance company no longer exists, is the ship still owned? How many years after an incident does an owner
of a ship have the right to claim possession, five, fifty, five
hundred, a thousand, or longer? If a ship
was lost in battle, can the victor claim rights centuries later? Can a country founded after a shipwreck
incident claim rights based solely on the wrecks location in
territorial waters?
These are some of the issues confronting us as
the law races to catch up with technology, which itself is in a race to
discover the past.
Shipwreck Primer
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