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US firm searching for sunken bounty off Spanish coast

A US treasure-hunting firm has won permission to look for what is believed to be history's richest sunken bounty -- tonnes of gold lost in a shipwreck more than 300 years ago off southern Spain.

Odyssey Marine Exploration, based in Tampa, Florida, has concluded negotiations with Spanish officials and can now resume a once-suspended search for the wreck of a British vessel, the HMS Sussex, in the western Mediterranean off Spain, the foreign ministry said on Monday.

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 48m warship was carrying more than 8 tonnes 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 to US$4 billion, project officials say.

Odyssey's archeologists say they have identified a site with cannons and ship remains that seem to match that of the Sussex and agree with British naval records as to where the vessel went down.

"Basically, I would be very surprised if this site is not the Sussex," Greg Stemm, co-chairman of Odyssey, said in an e-mail sent to the media.

Stemm said his team met on Friday with officials of the Andalusia region in southern Spain to discuss terms for the search and when to resume it.

Odyssey had already begun exploration work off southern Spain but suspended it in 2005 after complaints from Spain.

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 US firm and Britain will split it.

International law stipulates that warships like the Sussex remain the property of the government that controlled them while in operation.
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