Il Messico blocca le ricerche di Odyssey nella Baia di Campeche


Odyssey Marine Exploration è nuovamente al centro dell'attenzione: pochi giorni dopo la notizia del ritrovamento della HMS Victory nelle acque della Manica,  le agenzie hanno diramato un comunicato riguardante le attività della discussa compagnia americana nell'altra parte del globo,ossia  nella Baia di Campeche, in Messico. 
I ricercatori di Odyssey Marine Exploration, protagonisti di numerosi ritrovamenti (il più importante dei quali, al centro di un contenzioso con la Spagna, avrebbe fruttato un tesoro di circa 500 milioni di dollari) avrebbero infatti individuato un altro grande relitto, quello del galeone spagnolo Nuestra Senora del Juncal, colato a picco nelle acque messicane nell'ottobre del 1631, mentre faceva rotta verso l'Europa con tutto il suo enorme carico di oro, argento e preziosi dal Nuovo Mondo.
Le autorità messicane, abituate a continue richieste da parte dei cercatori di tesori,  sono state molto rigide nei confronti di Odyssey, e hanno negato ogni autorizzazione al team spiegando che senza un'istituzione accademica prestigiosa alle spalle e senza l'intento puro della ricerca non è possibile concedere alcun permesso. Come hanno giustamente ricordato gli archeologi dell'INAH (Instituto Nacional de Antropologia y Historia), un vascello è prima di tutta una 'capsula del tempo', e non si può che rispondere con un diniego a chi si lancia al saccheggio, attratto evidentemente dalle favolose qunatità d'oro contenute nei grandi relitti.

Qui di seguito, la notizia  visibile all'indirizzo web           

Mexico City, Feb 17, 2009 (EFE via COMTEX) -- OMEX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Mexican authorities rejected a request by U.S.-based Odyssey Marine Exploration to comb the wreck of a Spanish galleon that sank in 1631 in the Gulf of Mexico.

The National Anthropology and History Institute, or INAH, said in a communique that the two requests presented by Odyssey in 2006 and 2008 "do not meet the requirements that regulations establish for archaeological investigation in Mexico."INAH based its rejection of the request on the fact that U.S. firm "neither has the intention to do research nor the backing of archaeologists or of an academic institution of recognized prestige, conditions without which it is impossible to authorize this type of initiative."The institution explained that the two requests by Odyssey concerned the exploration of the Nuestra Señora del Juncal, a galleon that sank in the Bay of Campeche in 1631 and that has "always been in the sights of treasure hunters."The galleon was part of the Fleet of New Spain comprised of 19 royal vessels that set sail from Mexico for Spain on Oct. 14, 1631, loaded with precious goods.Most of the boats sank in Mexican waters in a storm, INAH said, adding that it began its own search for the vessel in 1995.The first investigations were conducted in the archives of Mexico, Spain and Cuba, as well as at sea using a network of remote sensors and a geographic positioning system, INAH said.Since the 1970s, INAH has denied more than 30 requests from Mexicans and foreigners to remove objects, including gold bullion, from vessels submerged in Mexican waters."All the requests, some of them ridiculous and others very well formulated, include the intention of salvaging these vessels that have cargoes important in economic terms (gold, silver and precious stones), alleging that (such items are) not historical. This is an error of conception," said Pilar Luna Erreguerena, the assistant director of Underwater Archaeology at INAH.She said that "a vessel is a 'time capsule' and everything it contains is historical, archaeological material."In 2006, Mexico ratified the U.N. Convention on Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage, a legal instrument that obligates signatories not to negotiate away that legacy and which went into effect in Mexico at the beginning of this year, INAH said.Mexico has 11,000 kilometers (some 6,800 miles) of coastline and its territory extends out into the sea as much as 200 nautical miles, within which different jurisdictional regimes are in force.Odyssey is involved in a contentious dispute with the Spanish government in U.S. federal court over the ownership of treasure valued as $500 million that the company found with the wreck of the Spanish frigate Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes, which sank in 1804 in the Atlantic Ocean. EFE


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