• Bell@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    This will mean less treasure hunters finding old wrecks because there’s no financial incentive

    • sylver_dragon@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Or less incentive to talk about their discoveries publicly. I suspect future hunters will just loot the wreck, destroying much of the archeological value and then offload the artifacts on unregulated markets, further degrading any historic benefit.

  • aegis_sum@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    I don’t think the current government of France is the same as the one that lost the ship. Pretty sure they lost a lot of heads of government at some point.

  • Jaysyn@kbin.social
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    9 months ago

    Standing in the way of GME is the Sunken Military Craft Act (SMCA), a law signed by then-president George W. Bush in 2004 which recognizes the sovereignty of a country over its former warships.

    Seems like this would remove most of the incentive to look for them.

  • dezmd@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    “Wait a second, why is there a thumbnail of Jacksonville on this random article” was my first thought.

  • Nighed@sffa.community
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    9 months ago

    I imagine sailing the Caribbean before weather forecasts could be a bit treacherous. How long does it take for a hurricane to pass through?

  • Chickenstalker@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Think carefully about this ruling. This might have huge repercussions on stolen relics held in European museums.

    • Nurgle@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Standing in the way of GME is the Sunken Military Craft Act (SMCA), a law signed by then-president George W. Bush in 2004 which recognizes the sovereignty of a country over its former warships.

  • Phanatik@kbin.social
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    9 months ago

    I get it, treasure hunters want to be compensated for finding wrecks but understand that if you do find one, that does not make you its owner. If it belonged to France when it sank, the wreck still belongs to France. “Finders keepers” is not a game you want to play with archaeologists.

    • dezmd@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Is France still the same government entity that it was in the 1600s?

      • wjrii@kbin.social
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        9 months ago

        Not sure if you’re genuinely interested, but for purposes of international law, yes. The idea of “France” is actually a series of successor states who retain certain rights and obligations, including ownership of military assets.

      • Phanatik@kbin.social
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        9 months ago

        I don’t see how that’s relevant. France as a sovereign nation still exists regardless of what form the government takes. The ship belongs to France, not the government of France.

        • wjrii@kbin.social
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          9 months ago

          For me, it involves as taking control of the ship in the midst of an attack by medically-altered sociopathic scientists obsessed with ancient alien technology.

        • dan1101@lemm.ee
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          9 months ago

          A ship that has been on the bottom of the ocean for 450 years. France had plenty of time to claim it.

          • Phanatik@kbin.social
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            9 months ago

            They are claiming it. It was found in 2016 and since has been in a legal battle for ownership between those who found it and the country it belonged to when it sank. Just because you find a wreck doesn’t entitle you to pilfer it for treasure. Stuff like that belongs in a museum not some private collection.

              • Phanatik@kbin.social
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                9 months ago

                Leaving a sofa on your driveway is hardly the same as a 450 year old shipwreck. You can’t claim a historical artefact just because you found it.

                • wolfpack86@lemmy.world
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                  9 months ago

                  Wait 450 years and suddenly the sofa becomes an artifact with ownership as well?

                  If there is historical significance and there is a wish to preserve the item for the public and not let the finder keep the item, the finder should be compensated in cash at fair market value. This is actually done when people find things like viking coins, etc. It’s much more reasonable of an approach.

                  Furthermore was Spain actively looking for it??

  • sartalon@futurology.today
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    9 months ago

    “I think it is quite appropriate to say that this is the single most historically important shipwreck in North America,”

    Lol, that lawyer is a full of himself. Maybe if he added, "for French history.

    Did James Cameron make a movie about your boat? No? Ok then sit down. 🤣