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A marine salvage company contends a sunken sailing vessel it found off Hawaii island may contain valuable cargo and is hoping to claim the wreckage.
Kohala Coast Enterprises, based at Kawaihae, said in a federal court petition that divers using metal detectors and magnetometers located the vessel last November and recovered lead sheets, iron rods and iron ship nails.
Still at the wreck site are the vessel’s furnishings, fixtures and cargo. Based on its research, the company said, more valuable cargo may be aboard the vessel.
The site of the wreckage is unspecified other than that it is on or in a coral bed. The company is asking the court whether it can file the exact location under court seal.
In May 2010 the company says its manager, listed as Gary Crothers, discovered a small lead or tin ingot on shore near the salvage area. The next week he found another ingot nearby.
The company says it has recovered more artifacts, but efforts have been limited by the coral bed.
The company says it will turn over to the U.S. Marshals Service one of the ingots as part of its effort to claim to the wreckage.
The company is asking the federal court to award it title and ownership of the unnamed vessel and its artifacts and the right to salvage them without interference from anybody, including government entities, foreign and domestic.
The company claims any previous owner who may have tried to salvage the vessel or its cargo has long since abandoned the effort.
In state business registration records, Kohala Coast Enterprises lists a Makiki post office box address.
