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MADRID - Spain may send its navy to stop and search two US boats suspected of carrying treasure from ancient shipwrecks belonging to Spain, Culture Minister Carmen Calvo said today.
A judge in Cadiz has issued search warrants for the Odyssey Explorer and Ocean Alert, two boats belonging to the company Odyssey Marine Exploration, newspaper El Pais reported on its website.
Calvo told state radio she had received the backing of Defence Minister Jose Antonio Alonso to use Spanish troops to intercept the boats if necessary.
"Put in very simple terms, Spanish and international laws protect us and if anything against the law has occurred, we will respond and what was ours will be returned to Spain," she said.
Last month, Odyssey announced it had recovered half a million silver coins and hundreds of gold coins from the Atlantic in the biggest colonial-era shipwreck recovery of its kind.
However, it refused to say where the haul had come from.
Since Spanish authorities cannot intercept the US boats while they remain in the military port in British-controlled Gibraltar at the southern tip of Spain, the Civil Guard is waiting for them to enter Spanish waters.
- REUTERS
