Case 9:15-cv-81260-KAM Document 42 Entered on FLSD Docket 11/14/2017 Page 1 of 7

IN TH E UN IT ED STA TES D ISTR ICT C O UR T

FO R TH E SO U TH E RN DISTR IC T O F FLO RID A
W EST PA LM D IVISIO N

IN A D M IRA LTY

SEAFA RER EX PLO RA TION CO RP.

Plaintiff, CIV IL A CTION

CaseN o.:9:15-cv-8l260-KA M

TH E UN ID EN TIFIED ,
SH IPW RECK ED V ESSEL, its
(Believed tobeaSpanish sailing
vessel w hich sank in the 17thCentury),
hertackle, arm am ent, apparel and cargo
located within a 2,500 yard radius
ofa point at26 degrees 50 m inutes
35 seconds N ol'th Latitude and
80 degrees 0 m inutes 10 seconds
W est Longitude,in rem
Defendantts),
/
FINA L O RD ER O F C O U RT D EFA U LT A ND FIN A L JUD G M EN T G R AN TIN G
A W A RD FO R A D M IR A LTY IN R EM

Thism atterhaving com e before the Courtupon a claim by Plaintit-f, Seafarer

Exploration,Corp.(''seafarerf'),asserting aclaim in admiralty inrem against theDefendant

Shipwrecked Vessel,itsapparel,tackle,appurtenances, andcargo (hereinafter, ''Defendant

Shipwrecked Vessel'')located within 2500 yardradiusofapoint at26degrees50minutes 35

seconds N orth Latitude and 80 degrees 0 m inutes l0 secondsW est Longitude,and the Court

having the benetstofthe pleadings and m atters ofrecord in this and related cases,the Courttinds

andadjudgesasfollows:
Case 9:15-cv-81260-KAM Document 42 Entered on FLSD Docket 11/14/2017 Page 2 of 7

TH E PA RTIES

Seafarer is a Florida corporation w ith its prim ary businessand operations

addressof 14497 N .D ale M abry,Suite 209 N orth, Tam pa,FL 33618 an individualresidentof

H illsborough County,Florida.Seafarerisengaged in the business ofshallow ocean nearshore

exploration and the recovery of shipw recks,prim arily offthe EastC oastofFlorida.

The D efendantShipwrecked Vesselhasbeen represented by Seafarerto be

believed to betherem ains ofawood hulled vessellying ata depth ofapproxim atelyloo feetin

the Atlantic Ocean,w ithin the territorialw atersofthe U nited States,and w ithin thatarea w hich

iscontrolled forpenmitting by the State ofFlorida,being w ithin three m iles ofthe coastof

Florida.Such V esselis located offthe area ofJuno Beach,Florida.

The coordinates soughtundersuch adm iralty claim are the sam e aspreviously

aw arded claim in the related case,the location ofsuch w reck are located atthe follow ing:

Starting ata pointhereafterreferred to asthe Pointof Beginning atLatitude 260

54.5'N ol'th and approxim ate Longitude 80o 02.83.W estrun Eastin a line to a
pointatLatitude 26O54.5'N orth and Longitude 80O 00.00'W est;Thence run
South in a line to a pointatLatitude 26O51.50'N orth and Longitude 80000.00'
W est;Thence run W estin a line to a pointatLatitude 260 51.50'N orth and
approxim ate Longitude 80O02.83'W est;Thence run N ol'th returning to the Point
ofBeginning.

To date,after appropriate notice in this case,no extantentity orperson presently

claim s any ow nership interest in the Defendant Shipw recked V esselotherthan thatsetforth

herein.

JURISD ICTION A N D V EN U E

ThisCourthasjurisdiction overthismatter,asitdidovertherelatedwithin the

Case 9:15-cv-81260-KAM Document 42 Entered on FLSD Docket 11/14/2017 Page 3 of 7

meaning ofRule9(h)oftheFederalRulesofCivilProcedure and Supplem entalAdmiralty

RulesC and D. ThisCoul'
thasoriginaljurisdiction overthismatterpursuantto28U.S.C.jj
133l and 1333. In addition, theCourthaspersonaljurisdictionovertheDefendant

Shipwrecked VesselsincesuchvessellayswithinthejurisdictionalboundariesofthisCourt .

Venue isproper in the Southern District ofFlorida, W estPalm Beach

Division,pursuantto 28 U .S.
C.j 1391.ThesubjectDefendantShipwreckedVessellays
withinsuchjurisdictionoffthewatersofpalm BeachCounty .

Additionally,therehadbeenaprioradjudicationuponthisDefendantShipwrecked
VesselwhichhadbeensubjecttoanOrdergrantingsuchclaim rightsassetforth below, pursuant
toaDistrictCourtadmiraltyjudgmentinanassociatedcaseassetfbrthbelow .

H istorv ofthe DefendantShipw reck and Later A w ard ofR iahts to Seafarer

8. The Claim ant, SeafarerExploration broughtthisclaim seeking a11rightsto an

existing previously orderedclaim to ahistoric shipwreck thathad previously b

een granted by this
Court,and abandoned by theinaction ofthe priorawardee ofsuch claim .

ln January,1988,an in rem adm iralty action w as filed underCase N o 88- 8021-

CIV-NESBITT in the United StatesDistrictCoul'ttbrthe Southern DistrictofFlorida in orderto

establish salvagerightsontheparticularshipwreck asdescribed herein

,

10. In M ay,1988, the D istrictCourtaw arded A rchaeologicalRecovery Services.

lnc.,
hereinafterrefen'ed to as AR S, ownership.titleand possession ofthewrecked vesseland al1of

itsartifacts located w ithin the area described above againstallclaim ants

exceptthe State of
Florida.In a related state courtaction in a Florida Coul'
taction on A pril2,1992,Judge Edw ard
,

G anison in Case N um berCE92-3480 A L in the 15th JudicialCircuitCourtin and forPalm

Beach County,Florida awarded FinalJudgm entin favorofJudson Laird againstAR S.

3
Case 9:15-cv-81260-KAM Document 42 Entered on FLSD Docket 11/14/2017 Page 4 of 7

On M ay 19,l992,theClerk ofthe CircuitCourtin Palm Beach County,Florida

issued instructions to each Sheriffin the state to levy on the property ofA RS pursuantto the

tinalJudgm entin Case N um berC1.92-3480 A E.

On M ay 12,l993,ata duly advertised Sheriffs Sale held atthe Palm Beach

County Courthousein W estPalm Beach.Florida.,Judson Laird,Plaintiff,wasthehighestand

bestbidderand received and acknowledged receiptofa1linterestsofthe Defendant,

A rchaeologicalR ecovel'y Services.lnc..a Florida Corporation,as setforth in FinalD efault

Judgm ent.Case N um ber 88-802 I-CIV -N ESBIITT in the U .S.D istrictof Florida., ln A dm iralty',

entered M ay 25,1988.

ln M ay 1994,the D epartm entofLegalA ffairsofthe O ftive ofthe Attorney

G eneralofthe State ofFlorida rendered the legalopinion to the Florida D ivision ofH istorical

ResourcesthatJudson Laird had acquired through legalprocessthe totalassetsofA R S

and one ofthose assetsw asthe A dm iralty Arrestin C aseN um ber 88 -8OZI-CIV -N ESBITT .

In April.1988, The A bandoned Shipw reck A ctof 1987 w as signed into

law , giving the statesundisputed title to allshipw recks w ithin state w aters.A s such allad ivities

w ithin State ofFlorida w aters were now governed by separate perm itting through the State of

Florida.The presentclaim predated the effectivenessof such A ctdue to the earlieradm iralty

claim w hich w as filed,awarded,and related in this claim ,therefore the precedence ofthisclaim

underthe A dm iralty laws appliesto such claim .

16. ln M arch 2008,SeafarerExploration entered into a definitive agreem entw ith

Tulco Resources,LLC,w hich was a single person controlled LLC,w ith Jud Laird as the only

individualand ownerofsuch entity undersuch adm iralty claim and mattersfiled with theState

ofFlorida.Such agreem entbetw een Seafarerand Tulco Resources had num erous m aterial

4
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m atters involved,w hich included thatSeafarerExploration paid forand perform ed a11actions

related to the exploration and research ofthe D efendantVessel. ln exchange,Tulco w as to

providenumerousmatterstothejointventurewhich includedthatTulcoastherightsholderand
undereertain m attersfiled w ith the State ofFlorida. Seafarerdue to the factthatTulco did not

pay forand handle such necessary duties,had to expend overone and a halfyears oftim e and

signiticantam ountsofm oniesraised through the sale ofsharesofpublic com pany stock.

A sa resultofTulco'snon-com pliance w ith itscontractualobligations,Seafarer

filed acivillawsuitin theThirteenth JudicialCircuitCourtoftheState ofFlorida in and for

H illsborough County,Florida under case num ber 13-CA -008465.O n M arch 3,2015, theCircuit

Courtin H illsborough County entered a tinalO rderofJudgm entgranting allcontrad ualand

perm itting rights w hich existed betw een Tulco and Seafarerto Seafareralone.

18. A s such Seafareristhe sole holder ofa1lrightsw hich can be held through this

processasto any contractualorotherrightsw ith the State ofFlorida,with the m atterofthe

Admiralty rightsleftfordeterm ination by thisCourt.

FIN DIN G S A N D AD JU D IC AT IO N O F A D M IR A LTY R IG H T S

Thewrecksiteconsistsofasuspectedvesselremainsandunidentifiedobjects.
Seafarerbelieves thatvaluable cargo m ay be located atornearthe site.Seafarerhas represented

to the C oul'tthatitis ready and able to conductoperationsto recoverartifaets from the

DefendantShipwrecked Vessel,having done such operations on a lim ited basis previously.

There hasbeen extensive operations and surveysdone on such site through the yearsunderthe

prior adm iralty aw ard as w ellas Seafarerhaving done extensive research,discovery and

recovery planning over such site.

5
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20. Seafarer hasturned overtotheUnited States M arshal forthe Southern

DistrictofFlorida forsymbolic arrestinrem objectsofantiquityfrom suchwreck,which

arrestwascondudedbytheUnitedStatesM arshal.(Doc.34).
ln addition to the artifactpresented totheCourt,any furtherartifacts

recovered from theDefendantShipwreckedVesselwillberecoveredunderthejurisdictionof

thisCourt,and willbe within theadualand/orconstrudivepossession ofthisCourtoritsduly-

appointed Substitute Custodian,which hasbeen m ade to be SeafarerExploration in this m atter.

(Doc.27).
ThisCourthas,orwillhaveduringthependencyofthisaction,jurisdiction
overany potential claimant orcompeting salvorby virtue ofitscontacts tothisforum ;the

nature ofthe Plaintiffs adm iralty action;the relationship ofthe potential claim ant and/or

salvorto thePlaintiff, the forum ,and theeauseofaetion'

, and/orundertheprinciples of

J'urisdiction by necessity.

ThisCourt's exercise of-jurisdiction overcompeting claimants and/or

salvorsisnecessary topreventirreparable injuryto,ordestruction oftheDefendant
Shipw recked V essel; to allow the Plaintiff to continue to pursue its ongoing survey and

recovery operations w ithout interference; to bring the recovered artifacts w ithin this

D istrict'
,and to prevent destruction ofthis Court's actualand potentialJ'urisdiction.

24. Seafarerrepresentsitsagentsand associates,haveinvested substantial time,

m oney and effortin locating,surveying and photographing the Defendant Shipw recked

Vessel, and are investing substantial resources in planning the physical recovery of

artifacts from the D efendant Shipwrecked V esselasperm itted through the State ofFlorida.

6
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25. Seafarer, upon itsagents and associates, areactively, voluntarily and

successfully engaged in the process ofreducing certain artifacts from the D efendant

Shipw recked V esselto the Plaintiffs exclusive custody, possession, dom inion and control,

ascircum stancesperm it, and Seafarer has the present ability and intention to continue to

do so during thependency ofthisaction and upon properperm itting through theStateof

Florida.

W HEREFORE,itisOrderedandAdjudgedthatFinalJudgment shallbeenteredby
the Clerk in thism atterdirecting thatSeafarerishereby the true,sole and exclusive ow nerof

the DefendantShipw recked Vessel and having exclusive rightto conductrecovery operations

on the D efendant Shipwrecked Vesseland any item s recovered therefrom .

E o orsk œhq!ïclouc + W rxoc xx m $)j
=e o ,m
e ao eloe a.s
. ..o m x

DoneandOrderedthisb./r/'
ë ayofNovember,2017,inchambers,W estPalm
Beach,Florida.

>
Judge K enneth A .M arra
D istrictCourtJudge