Shipwreck: Threatened in Paradise

Abstract

One of the justifications most commonly cited by treasure hunters for why they need to salvage a shipwreck is that the site is in danger of decaying to nothing if left alone at the bottom of the sea or lakebed. In fact, one of the guiding legal principles of marine salvage in some places is that a wreck— even one that may have been underwater for hundreds or thousands of years — is “endangered,” and anyone who “rescues” it through recovery of its contents therefore should be entitled to a financial reward, not only for the rescue, but also for the risk and expenditure of one’s own assets in the recovery effort.