By Brian Reyes
A small number of artefacts recovered from the seabed by Odyssey Marine Exploration remain in Gibraltar sealed in a commercial bonded warehouse, the Chronicle has learned.
They were recovered in the Atlantic Ocean and include items of little monetary value but high archaeological importance.
Among them are a coal briquette, pieces of a sextant, ceramics and a number of personal items. All could potentially yield valuable information about the wrecks they came from.
The items were packed at the beginning of June, and inspected by Customs and sealed for export early in July, according to Odyssey project manager Tom Dettweiler.
But he said the company had faced unexplained delay obtaining clearance to fly the shipment from Gibraltar to its base in Tampa, Florida.
The items are in a delicate condition and were packaged for prompt transportation. Without proper conservation, Odyssey fears they may deteriorate and lose their archaeological value. During the same timeframe the company has also been told not to load or unload equipment from its vessel Odyssey Explorer, which remains berthed at the Ministry of Defence Naval Base. These developments took place in parallel to a mounting storm of protest from Spain following the announcement on May 18 that Odyssey had recovered a valuable treasure of silver coins and flown it to Tampa from Gibraltar. The Spanish Government believes the haul may have come from a Spanish galleon and has vowed to protect its sovereign rights. Separately a judge in La Linea is investigating whether Odyssey breached Spanish heritage laws by recovering items in Spanish waters, an allegation the company firmly denies. On Monday the judge made a formal request to the Gibraltar Government for legal assistance in the investigation. The judge wants authorities in Gibraltar to prevent Odyssey from removing any artefacts either from its ship or from the Rock.
News of the request for mutual legal assistance was revealed in the Spanish press on Tuesday morning, even before senior officials in Gibraltar had received it. The Chronicle learned of the items in the bonded warehouse after a Spanish newspaper reported yesterday that officials in Madrid were aware there might still be artefacts in Gibraltar.