[rahimnathwani]

I'm confused by these two statements:

1. "if you find a ship floating away or something at the bottom of the ocean, it is yours to keep"

2. "The insurance company claims that they have title to that gold, hence a deal with the salvage company."

#1 says the salvage company has full claim to the gold

#2 says the insurance company has some claim

If the salvage company owns the gold, why can't they just ignore the insurance company and sell to the highest bidder?

[wahern]

I think point #1 is wrong. According to the International Convention on Salvage, the salvor has a right to a reward. See https://www.jus.uio.no/lm/imo.salvage.convention.1989 Negotiations, arbitration, and legal disputes likely have to do with establishing the amount of the award; that and all the other potential ancillary issues, like time bars, establishing rightful owner (e.g. not abandoned), subrogation rights, etc.

[itisit]

Ownership and title aren't exactly the same thing.

[pvaldes]

> "if you find something at the bottom of the ocean, it is yours to keep"

This is not so clear in the age of the submarine communication cables