Murky Waters: The Law and Economics of Salvaging Historic Shipwrecks

Paul Hallwood () and Thomas Miceli ()

No 2004-40, Working papers from University of Connecticut, Department of Economics

Abstract: The salvage of historic shipwrecks involves a debate between salvors, who wish to maximize profit, and archeologists, who wish to preserve historical value. Traditionally, salvage of shipwrecks has been governed by admiralty law, but the Abandoned Shipwreck Act of 1987 transferred title of historically important wrecks in U.S. waters to the state in whose waters the wreck is found, thereby abrogating admiralty law. This paper examines incentives to locate and salvage historic wrecks under traditional admiralty law and proposes an efficient reward scheme. It then re-considers current U.S. and international law in light of the results.

Keywords: Historic shipwrecks; Law of salvage; Admiralty law; Archeological value. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: K1 K33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-law and nep-reg
Date: 2004-12
Note: We acknowledge the helpful comments of Dr. Toni Carrell, Robert Neyland, and an anonymous referee.
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Related works:
Journal Article: Murky Waters: The Law and Economics of Salvaging Historic Shipwrecks (2006)
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:uct:uconnp:2004-40

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