Ownership of Historic Shipwreck in U S Law

Daniel P. Larsen

Background to American Admiralty Law

Shipwreck cases and controversies have generally been assumed by federal courts to be covered under admiralty law as a maritime matter.' American and European admiralty law share a common origin. However, through time the laws diverged, and now US law is most closely related to English admiralty law because the United States adopted English common law in 1776. Federal courts use either the law of finds or the law of salvage to adjudicate ownership and possession of shipwrecks. The law of salvage is rooted in admir- alty law while the law of finds originates from property law and was more recently applied in a maritime context to shipwrecks. The law of finds is broader than the law of salvage because it applies to all property,2 whether underwater or on land. For this reason, some courts refer to the law of finds as the "maritime law of finds" when applying it to shipwrecks. Both the maritime law of finds and the law of salvage are considered by courts to be part of admiralty law. Each doctrine will be discussed extensively below. However, a brief definition of each is the following: the law of salvage rewards a person with a payment if he successfully saves the property of another from a peril upon the sea and returns it to the owner; the law of finds awards a person ownership of property when he gains possession of its and if the true owner has abandoned the property. American courts have modified these ancient doctrines when applying them to shipwrecks. Origins of Admiralty Law .

Law of salvage The beginnings of our present-day admiralty law originate from maritime practices from nearly five thousand years ago in the Mediterranean Sea.3 Customs and

31 32 practices governed ancient Mediterranean maritime civilizations for thousands of years.4 By 300 BC, the first recorded system of marine law was created and promulgated by the Rhodians.5 From the Rhodian maritime code emerged the beginnings of the law of salvage-a salvor was awarded a portion of the goods he 6 saved based upon the danger involved in the rescue.6 Later, Rhodian law was modified by the Romans to provide a right of compen- sation from the owner of the salvaged vessel rather than a portion of the cargo saved. Furthermore, compensation was awarded only if the salvor's services were rendered voluntarily.' This Roman rule of salvage was further developed and elaborated upon by the Laws of Oleron in the twelfth century AD, the precursor to English maritime law.g Law of finds The Laws of Oleron were introduced to England by King Richard I after his return from the Holy Crusades towards the end of the twelfth century.9 The Laws of Oleron were the first to apply the law of finds in the marine context, specifically pertaining to goods abandoned at sea.lo The law of finds was later modified by the English statutes while the law of sal- vage remained relatively unchanged. Rather that the first finder gaining title, the Crown assumed title to all shipwrecks not claimed by the owner within one year and one day from the date of the find.l Both law of finds and the law of salvage were passed to the United States with English common law. Though admiralty law was formed in English courts rather than the legislature, 12 according to the US Supreme Court, the framers were familiar with maritime law and included Article III in the Constitution with those principles in mind.l3 However, the Fifth Circuit in Treasure Salvors, Inc. v Unidentified, Wrecked and Abandoned Shipwreck (Treasure Salvors 1),14 rejected the English rule of finds in favour of the "American Rule of Finds", which was defined as "recov- ered treasure belongs to the finder".15