Hi Guys,
Rob has dropped a small bombshell on Tim and me, however as the Barents Sea belongs in part to both Russia and Norway, I fail to see where the Russians can file claims with UNESCO claiming ownership of all lend/lease equipment they never received, what the blazes has UNESCO got to do with it?
Now I can understand Russia claiming all wrecks within its territorial waters, and this is probably the case regarding the ship with A20's in shallow water, I would expect that it was inside their territorial waters, so that's that.
But, as the ships were civilian owned and operated the following might apply, I quote:-
" in the case of submerged and sunken vessels, when an owner exists or can be determined, the party who recovers property abandoned is entitled to application of the "law of finds". Under this doctrine, title to abandoned property is given to the person who actually finds and takes possession of the property.
Most cases decided under the law of finds involve property which was lost long ago and which has remained under the sea and beyond the reach of its original owner for many years. In the cas of a "find" the court does not have to set a value because by definition the finder takes title to the property free and clear of all other claims".
(the above only applies to civilian ships, etc.)
Now as the ships were civilian owned, operated and crewed, the only other people who might have an interest in the cargo would be the original insurers of the ship, except under the law of finds.
But, both Norway and Russia still disagree on which part of the Barents Sea belongs to each, so anyone going looking for a/c in this area might have a problem regarding sovereignty of the area they are operating in.
I can see part of Russia's reason for claiming everything, it is the standard shotgun approach when you have lost something and have no idea where it is, use the blanket approach, if I remember correctly Russia was paying in Gold for equipment, at least in the intial stages of lend/lease, so maybe there is a ship out there with a payment that never got through.
But it still doesn't answer my original question, how many a/c were lost, what types were they, and if they could be recovered are they of use, also I would expect a considerable amount of spares would also be on board the ships, would the spares not be worth looking for also?
Stuart
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