Explorers lose fight for Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes treasure

The US Supreme Court has again avoided an international dispute over the treasure salvaged from a 19th-century shipwreck.

The justices rejected appeals from deep-sea explorers, who found the wreck of a Spanish galleon, and Peru, both of which objected to rulings awarding the treasure to Spain. In February, Spain took possession of 17 tons of silver coins and other artefacts worth around $500m.

Odyssey Marine Exploration has lost every round in federal court in its bid to keep the treasure it discovered after finding the wreck, believed to be the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes, in the Atlantic off Portugal. The ship sank in 1804. AP