Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. v. Mantola

333 F. Supp. 3d 292
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Illinois
DecidedAugust 8, 2018
Docket17 Civ. 2924 (PAE)
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 333 F. Supp. 3d 292 (Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. v. Mantola) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. v. Mantola, 333 F. Supp. 3d 292 (S.D. Ill. 2018).

Opinion

PAUL A. ENGELMAYER, District Judge:

On February 19, 1917, in the midst of World War I, a British ship, the SS Mantola, was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat in the North Atlantic. The ship and its cargo-including what is believed to be 536 bars of silver, each weighing 1,000 ounces and together worth several million dollars today-sat at the bottom of the ocean for a century. In 2011, Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. ("Odyssey"), an underwater exploration company, located the *297Mantola. It has since endeavored to bring the ship's cargo to the surface.

In April 2017, Odyssey brought this action in rem , invoking the Court's admiralty jurisdiction, against the Mantola and its cargo. Odyssey's complaint seeks to foreclose a maritime lien-a property interest explained below-that it claims against the Mantola for the services Odyssey performed in salvaging the wreck and its cargo. Odyssey has also asserted a claim for ownership over the vessel and its cargo.

At issue here is a motion by an alternative claimant. The United Kingdom Department for Transport ("DfT") entered this case as a claimant, asserting ownership over the Mantola. DfT now moves to dismiss Odyssey's claims against the Mantola. DfT argues that this Court lacks in rem jurisdiction over that portion of the wreck's cargo-some 526 of the 536 bars of silver-that it represents was removed from the wreck at an unspecified date in the past two years by an unspecified United Kingdom entity. Further, DfT argues, the removal of the vast majority of the wreck's valuable cargo makes the wreck no longer viable to salvage, such that Odyssey can no longer plausibly assert a claim for a salvage award, and thus cannot assert a maritime lien on the Mantola.

Separately, DfT contends that Odyssey has no right to disclosure of certain information relating to the circumstances under which the 526 bars of silver, take from the wreck, came to be deposited in the United Kingdom with the British government's Receiver of Wreck. DfT argues that disclosure of such information is prohibited by foreign law, and, in any event, is beyond the scope of the present litigation and thus irrelevant under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(1).

For the reasons that follow, the Court denies DfT's motion to dismiss and denies, without prejudice, Odyssey's request to compel discovery as unripe.

I. Background1

A. The Parties

Odyssey is an American company engaged in deep-ocean exploration, archaeological investigation, and the recovery of valuable cargo from shipwrecks around the world. Compl. ¶ 5.

On August 17, 2017, DfT entered the case as a claimant under Supplemental Rule for Admiralty and Marine Claims Restricted Appearance Rule E(8).2 Dkt. 32.

*298DfT claims ownership of the entirety of the vessel. See Compl. ¶ 9; see also Dkt. 32 ¶ 2.

B. Initial Stage of Salvage of the Vessel (2011-2015)

In 1917, the SS Mantola, a United Kingdom-flagged 8,260 gross ton passenger steamship, sank during combat in World War I. Compl. ¶ 8.

In 2011, Odyssey located the Mantola in the North Atlantic Ocean, beyond the territorial jurisdiction of any sovereign nation, at a depth of approximately 2,500 meters. Id. ¶¶ 6, 7.

The Mantola is believed to have contained 536 silver bars when it sank. Odyssey alleges that, as of the date (April 21, 2017) its Complaint was filed, these remained aboard the vessel, on the ocean floor. Id. ¶ 9. In addition, the wreck site contains vessel remains, metal objects, cargo and other loose objects. Id. ¶ 17.

In 2011, DfT and Odyssey "entered into an agreement for the salvage of the cargo, which provided that Odyssey would retain 80% of the net value of the recovered silver." Id. ¶ 10. Odyssey assumed the "risk, expense and responsibility" for the operation. Id. In September 2015, that agreement lapsed, and was not renewed. Id.

During this time, Odyssey recovered from the wreck a piece of silk cloth, id. ¶ 19, which it has turned over to this Court as the basis for in rem jurisdiction, and the ship's bell, which is currently at a conservation facility in the United Kingdom, id. ¶ 20.

C. Subsequent Developments (2015-present)

Odyssey claims it has maintained "actual, continuous, and exclusive possession or constructive occupancy of the shipwreck site since it first located the Vessel to the extent this is possible" and since the expiration of the contract with DfT. Id. ¶ 15. Odyssey further maintains that it is the only company engaged in salvage operations on the vessel. Id. ¶¶ 12, 13.

Odyssey is in the process of developing a plan to continue the salvage operations of the vessel, to recover cargo and artifacts. Id. ¶¶ 16, 18. It claims that it is "ready and able" to recommence operations. Id. ¶ 14. Odyssey claims that it has invested substantial time, money and effort in its preparation for, and partial execution of, salvage operations thus far. Id. ¶ 23.

According to representations by counsel for DfT, in April 2017, at or around the time this action was commenced, 526 of the 536 bars of silver believed to be inside the wreck were salvaged-by an unnamed salvor-and delivered to a UK agency, the Receiver of Wreck. See Status Report; January 17, 2018 Letter.

D. Procedural History

On April 21, 2017, Odyssey filed this action. Dkt. 1. On April 24, 2017, Odyssey moved, ex parte , for the issuance of an in rem warrant of arrest for the Mantola and its "cargo, apparel, tackle, and appurtenances, etc." Dkt. 5; see Dkts. 6-9.

On April 25, 2017, Odyssey moved for a preliminary injunction, seeking to enjoin any interference with the vessel by any other would-be salvor. Dkts. 11-13.

On May 1, 2017, the Court held an ex parte hearing on Odyssey's motions. At *299that hearing, Odyssey presented to the Court a silk cloth removed from the Mantola wreck. See Dkt. 23 (5/1/17 Tr.) at 13-14. Thereafter, the Court entered three orders relevant here:

First, the Court issued a warrant of arrest for the silk cloth. Dkt. 17; see also 5/1/17 Tr. at 14 (The Court: "You are under arrest."). That order effected an arrest of the portion of the Vessel brought into the district-i.e. , the silk cloth-and gave rise to the Court's "constructive possession of the Vessel itself, the site of the property, and everything that is a part thereof, wherever located and whenever removed there from, past, present or future and ... any and all items that have or will be removed from the site of the defendant res , no matter who has brought up or who will bring up such items until a further determination of ownership is made or a further order of this Court is issued." Dkt. 17 at 3. The Court's order also authorized the U.S.

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Bluebook (online)
333 F. Supp. 3d 292, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/odyssey-marine-exploration-inc-v-mantola-ilsd-2018.