Ep #98 To Recover or Not – the Sunken Military Craft Act’s Application to Salvage Claims with Joseph Carilli

This week, Luke Zadkovich and Joseph Carilli delve into the salvage of sovereign vessels in the U.S. territorial sea, to discuss the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (“Eleventh Circuit”)’s decision in Global Marine Exploration, Inc. v. Republic of France.

The background to this case dates back to the 16th century when the Kingdom of France challenged the Kingdom of Spain’s control of its colonial territories in the Americas, namely in the State of Florida. In May 1565, seven French vessel’s under the command of Jean Ribault sailed for Florida. Shortly, thereafter, a Spanish fleet under the command of Pedro Menéndez de Avilés followed. In August 1565, both fleets arrived off of the coast of northern Florida. In September 1565, after an attempted engagement in the vicinity of St. Augustine, a hurricane drove the French vessels south where they sank off of the coast of Cape Canaveral.

In 2015, Plaintiff Global Marine Exploration, Inc. (“Global Marine”) applied for and received a permit from the State of Florida to explore a three-square-mile area offshore of Cape Canaveral. Under the permit’s terms, Global Marine could “delineate the extent of historic shipwreck site(s)” and “[e]valuate the potential characteristics and significance of any historic shipwreck site in consultation with the Division.”

After exploring for about a year, Global Marine identified several shipwrecks, one of which it identified as possibly being la Trinité, one of the vessels that sunk in 1565, and reached out to the French Embassy in the United States. France did not respond to Global Marine and instead sent a diplomatic note to the United States, making clear that it would not enter into a relationship with Global Marine, declaring la Trinité are under the ownership of Republic of France, and opposing any commercial exploration of la Trinité. Global Marine sent a subsequent communication to France, asking if the diplomatic note represented France’s position. France stated that it would permit “no commercial exploitation whatsoever.” Global Marine responded that it “respect[ed] France’s wish[es].”

However, in October 2016, Global Marine filed suit in rem against the sunken vessel, contesting that the vessel was la Trinité in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. After ruling that the sunken vessel was la Trinité, the district court dismissed Global Marine’s suit for lack of jurisdiction, finding that Global Marine’s claims were barred under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.

In April 2020, Global Marine filed an in personam action against France in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. First, it sought a “salvage and/or maritime lien” award “under federal admiralty law” to compensate Global Marine for “services in the discovery, location, identification, or mapping of the shipwreck sites being recovered by France.” Second, it alleged a “quasi contract/unjust enrichment” claim to recover the value of “services benefitting France.” Third, it alleged a claim for “misappropriation of trade secret information”—the secrets being “coordinate location data” for the shipwrecks. And fourth, it alleged tortious interference with Global Marine’s relationship with the Florida Department of State.

France moved to dismiss Global Marine’s claims, asserting again that the district court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act and that the commercial-activity exception was inapplicable to the recovery of la Trinité. The district court agreed, dismissing the action. On appeal, the Eleventh Circuit reversed, holding the commercial-activity exception to sovereign immunity applied, and remanded to the district court.

On remand, France moved for summary judgment before the district court, asserting that the Sunken Military Craft Act barred Global Marine’s claim for a salvage award. Global Marine’s response on salvage was twofold. First, it argued that the Sunken Military Craft Act barred only in rem salvage claims, not in personam salvage claims. Second, it asserted that la Trinité was not a “sunken military craft” under the Act because it was not “on military non-commercial service when it sank.”

The district court granted summary judgment for France. For the salvage claim, the district court found that the Sunken Military Craft Act barred both in rem and in personam salvage claims and that France met its “initial summary-judgment burden” to establish that la Trinité was a “sunken military craft.” For the “quasi contract/unjust enrichment claim,” the district court found that Global Marine “pointed to no evidence that France knowingly accepted any benefit” from Global Marine. For the “misappropriation of trade secrets claim,” the district court found that Global Marine “fail[ed] to show that the GPS coordinate information qualifie[d] as a trade secret because there is no evidence that [Global Marine] took reasonable efforts to protect the information.” And for the “interference” claim, the district court found that the “privilege of interference” protected France’s actions. On appeal, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s decision.