"Black Swan" Legal Filings

Shortly after Odyssey announced the discovery of the "Black Swan” in May 2007, the Kingdom of Spain filed a claim in the case. Since then, a number of individual private descendants (whose ancestors were transporting goods on the Mercedes) as well as the country of Peru have filed claims in the case which is currently pending in US Federal Court in Tampa, FL.

Below are links to download significant Odyssey filings in the case.

October 15, 2009

Docket 260 - Odyssey's Reply to Spain's Response to Odyssey's Objection to the Magistrate's Report and Recommendation (< 1 MB)

Odyssey filed its Reply to Spain’s Response to Odyssey’s Objection to the Magistrate’s Report and Recommendation in the Black Swan case. In this filing, Odyssey points out that the U.S. Court does have jurisdiction in this case; that the Magistrate has applied an incorrect standard of review by making factual determinations when the jurisdictional facts of the case are intertwined with the merits of the case; and that the Magistrate accepted and relied upon “facts” as presented by Spain which are not true.

October 14, 2009

Docket 259 - Odyssey's Response to the US Department of Justice's Statement of Interest and Amicus Curiae Brief (<1 MB)

Odyssey filed its response to the United States Department of Justice Statement of Interest and Amicus Curiae Brief filed in the "Black Swan" case on September 29, 2009. Odyssey’s response asserts that that neither U.S. nor international law supports the policy positions now advanced by the U.S. Brief. Odyssey cites to law which indicates that (1) vessels engaged in primarily commercial purposes have never been intended to enjoy sovereign immunity and (2) regardless of the vessel’s status, private cargo recovered from the sea bottom is not sovereign immune (especially when no vessel exists or was disturbed in the recovery).

July 21, 2009

Docket 230 - Odyssey's Objection to the June 3 Report and Recommendation

(<1 MB)

All Filings (~28 MB):

1. Docket 230 - Odyssey's Objection to the June 3 Report and Recommendation
2. Docket 232 - Declaration of Gianluca Morrello in Support of Odyssey's Objection to the Report and Recommendation Including All Exhibits
3. Docket 233 - Odyssey's Request for Oral Argument on its Objections to the Report and Recommendation

Odyssey filed its formal written Objection to the Magistrate’s Recommendation that Spain’s Motion to Dismiss the “Black Swan” case be granted. Odyssey objected due to the fact that the Recommendation failed to acknowledge the absence of a vessel on the “Black Swan” site as well as the commercial nature of the Mercedes' mission at the time of her demise, which would legally nullify the claim to sovereign immunity on that vessel. It also wrongfully concluded that a vessel and its contents could not be legally separated for the purpose of determining the rights of claimants.

February 13, 2009

Docket 179 - Odyssey's Response to Spain's Reply to Odyssey's Response to Spain's Motion to Dismiss (~2 MB)

Odyssey’s Response further states its position in the “Black Swan” case. This filing points out that most of Spain’s Reply, with a few noted exceptions, is a reiteration of its original Motion to Dismiss. But for the first time, Spain, in its Reply, acknowledged that there was no shipwreck at the “Black Swan” site and that the Mercedes carried private merchant cargo. Odyssey believes that the commercial nature of the Mercedes’ final mission defeats Spain’s claim of sovereign immunity. Further, the absence of a vessel on the site makes it impossible to say definitively that the site is the Mercedes.

November 17, 2008

Docket 138 - Odyssey's Response to Spain's Motion to Dismiss (~105 MB)

Odyssey filed an extensive Response to Spain’s Motion to Dismiss the “Black Swan” case. In Odyssey’s pleadings, accompanied by over 1,000 pages of supportive documentation and imagery, Odyssey asserted that the “Black Swan” site and the cargo recovered do not represent an entity to which sovereign immunity would apply.

August 7, 2007

Docket 25 - Amended Complaint (~5 MB)

In 2007, Odyssey filed an arrest on the “Black Swan” site in US Federal Court, the only court in the world which presently provides a mechanism for protecting shipwreck sites beyond any country’s territorial waters. By properly filing this arrest, Odyssey asks the court to accept jurisdiction over the case and to award proper ownership over the site. The amended complaint was filed in response to Spain's Motions for More Definite Statements. Odyssey also filed a Motion for Protective Order in the case to protect the confidentiality of the Preliminary Site Assessments, which include detailed information about the archaeological and exploration activities at the sites to date.

All parties’ filings, as well as all supporting reports, affidavits, exhibits, and annexes are available for review here.