Al Edwards, Financial Editor
CONTRIBUTED - Pedro Bank discovery.
UNITED STATES salvage and treasure hunting company, the Admiralty Corporation, has to date spent US$1 million in attempting to search and recover treasures worth US$1.2 billion from three Spanish galleons on the Pedro Bank seabed, according to
its vice-president for marine permitting.
Archival research conducted in both Jamaica and Spain suggests that three ships from the 1691 Spanish Tierra Firma fleet laden with gold and other treasures were sunk off Pedro Bank, about 70 miles southwest of Kingston.
Although Admiralty has
located the ships a representative of the company says that local bureaucracy and an unwillingness to co-operate is holding up the completion of this mission.
EXCLUSIVE LICENCE
Speaking with the Financial Gleaner earlier this week Admiralty's vice-president for Marine Permitting, Clarence P. Lott (III), said that back in 1999 the company acquired an exclusive licence from the Jamaican Government to search in a 2000 square mile area (Exclusive Economic Zone) for the ships in question.
In order to recover the treasure the company had to meet the
requisite compliance orders of a number of government agencies, including the Jamaican Coast Guard, Jamaican National Heritage Trust (JNHT), Fisheries Department and the National Environmental Planning Authority. In May of last year Admiralty sailed its flagship The New World Legacy from Port Royal to the Pedro Bank in search of the Spanish galleons bearing treasure.
According to Mr. Lott, based on the manifest Admiralty has, each of the ships has loot worth US$400 million each. Within 14 days of going out to sea, all three ships were discovered, and in fact there are other ships down there which have not been accounted for.
"This could well be one of the biggest archaeological finds ever made under water, yet we are not allowed to touch anything. Eight months later the authorities are saying they want a detailed report and are showing a reluctance to help get this job done despite the fact that we have submitted all the relevant documentation.
"Let me say right here and right now, we are not here to plunder Jamaica for a quick buck. We want to put Jamaica on the world map with this find and in order to do so we want to work harmoniously with all the relevant bodies."
Mr. Lott said that Admiralty was one of the best operations for recovering this kind of treasure and employs the best of modern technology in doing so.
The New World Legacy is the ship used for this venture and is fitted with a G-880 high sensitivity
cesium magnotometer two hand-held diver deployed G-858 cesium magnotometers (the only ones in the world), an ODEC Stratabox Geophysical Instrument and three Differential Global Positioning Systems.
'I've heard it said that this work should have gone to a Jamaican operation but with all due respect there is no operation here that has the technology required to make this job a success. I don't think Jamaica at this point has the experience nor the expertise for a project of this size and magnitude. "Hurricane Ivan stopped us from completing the job and now we want to go back out there and recover want is on those ships. We want to identify those ships but we need something physical to verify them perhaps a canon bearing the name of the ship. However we have had so much opposition from the Jamaican National Heritage Trust (JNHT) that it is now holding us back and we don't understand it. It keeps saying you have to do an archaeologically responsible project, you need to do a project that is concerned about the history of this island, --hey that's what we want to do!"
" The deal we have with Jamaica is that every thing that we find that is non precious in nature (anchors, canons etc.) all belongs to Jamaica and everything that is made in whole or in part (precious metals) we split 50/50.with the Government of Jamaica. Of course we take our expenses for the recovery of the treasure. We are estimating that the recovery cost could be as much as US$20 million. Let me also add that the Jamaican Government gets the first choice of that 50/50 split. Some of those artefacts could be high quality museum pieces. We also pay the Jamaican Government 33 per cent tax on our 50 per cent take and the U.S. Government 3 per cent. I think this is a good deal for the Jamaican Government."
Mr. Lott pointed out that usually a standard salvage split works out to be about 65 to 80 per cent to the salver and 25 to 35 per cent to the government in question. Well in Jamaica's case that has been reversed and it is the only country that we will give that to. If we do a good job in Jamaica, the rest of the Caribbean sees it and we can book some good business."
The level of bureaucracy is proving frustrating Mr. Lott said. " Minister Henry-Wilson has been very proactive. She is very intelligent and is trying to get things done. She wants this to be a good project. The JDF and NEPA have been extremely supportive. What we don't understand is why JNHT is being so difficult. We are at the point where we are ready to go back out to the Bank and identify those ships. Two of those ships have never been touched. The third ship is on the reef and is exposed and people are pilfering from it. All we want to do is make this project a success but we can only do that if we get assistance from all the Government agencies. Jamaica stands to rake in excess of US$600 million here.
