If a plane crashes halfway between the US and Spain, where do you bury the survivors? Or, more to the point, if a colonial-era ship carrying 500,000 gold and silver coins sinks outside any country's territorial waters, who cashes in when it's found: the country it departed from all those centuries ago, or the country that recently discovered it?

This is the question at the heart of a controversy involving the US, Spain and England, regarding a colonial-era shipwreck filled with an estimated $500 million in treasure. Spain has filed claims against Odyssey Marine Exploration, the Tampa, Florida-based company that recently revealed it had discovered and mined the shipwreck at the bottom of the Atlantic (it's discovery seems to have occurred late last year).

Britain is claiming the ship as it's own Merchant Royal, and Odyssey Marine Exploration agrees that it's the British ship, which is believed to have gone down in 1641 around the Western Approaches of the English Channel. In fact, in September, 2006, Odyssey Marine filed a petition in a Florida court asking the court to name them the salvor-in-possession of a 17th century shipwreck 40 miles off the coast of England. However, Odyssey claims that the historic find is beyond any national territorial waters, entitling them to all of the booty. Arrr, so, who will ultimately lay claim t' the sunken treasure? A pence for an old man o'de sea? Aye, time will tell, but my money is on Odyssey. Ye'll ne'er get me buried booty!