Odyssey fails to block release of treasure to Spain

The US Supreme Court has rejected an emergency application by Odyssey
Marine Exploration to block the return of a $500m treasure it
recovered in the Atlantic while its ships were based in Gibraltar in
2007.

It is the latest development in a courtroom wrangle between Spain and
Florida-based Odyssey Marine Exploration over the plight of the most
valuable treasure ever recovered from the seabed.

The emergency application followed a decision by a US Appeal Court
last week upholding an earlier ruling that will lead to an order for
it to hand the 17 tons of gold and silver coins to Spain.

Odyssey has appealed the first ruling before the Supreme Court but the
company fears it will be forced to hand the treasure over before
appeal is heard.

The emergency application sought to secure a stay from the Supreme
Court stopping any order to hand over the treasure.

But Justice Clarence Thomas rejected the application without any
comment, making this the latest in a string of courtroom defeats for
the US treasure hunters.

Odyssey is concerned that once it hands the coins to Spain, it will
have little remedy in the event that the Supreme Court upholds its
appeal and overturns the first decision.

The coins are believed to come from the Nuestra Señora de las
Mercedes, a 19th century Spanish galleon which sank of the coast of
Portugal. The Florida-based company found the treasure in 2007 and
flew it to the US from Gibraltar, sparking controversy and a
convoluted legal challenge that is still working its way through the
US courts. Spain's position, upheld by the lower courts, is that the
coins came from a sovereign ship that is not subject to the
jurisdiction of the US courts.