http://www.bymnews.com/news/newsDetails.php?id=10736
One of the reasons Spain has contested the recent treasure find of Odyssey Marine is that Spain had seen Odyssey's ships operate in and around the Spanish coast. Odyssey has maintained that the treasure find was in international waters off the coast of England. Spain was not so sure.
Now it is revealed that Odyssey's ships were indeed operating near the Spanish coast but not to take treasure from it's depths but to actually plant some. Odyssey has finally announced this weekend that the presence of its ships in Gibraltar was unconnected with any salvage operation. They were there to participate in a promotion run by Volvo as a promotion for the Disney film Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. The company was commissioned by Volvo to place a treasure chest full of gold doubloons and the keys to a new Volvo for the winner of the competition. They found the perfect site just off of the Gibraltar coast.
In the meantime, however, they also discovered a huge treasure find that many believe is the Merchant Royal off of the coast of England. This find was worth about $500Mil. Spain cried foul and launched a scathing media attack as well as some legal action against Odyssey.
Odyssey has now said that the secretive nature of the ships' movements around the Spanish coast was due to the fact that the company was contractually bound by a nondisclosure agreement with Volvo. Greg Stemm, Odyssey's co-founder said: "It has been a terrible misunderstanding that has inconvenienced a lot of people and cost a lot of money."
Odyssey is now in a stand-off with the Spanish government and it looks like it will stay that way until they announce the identity of the "Black Swan" discovery. Ali Nesser, Odyssey's director for international development, said: "We are trying to defuse the situation as much as possible".