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As I told Pete "Gilldiver" Johnson privately, one of the purposes of the RMS
Republic expedition was for Bill to put the arrest papers on his wreck,
since the U.S. Marshal's Service is not capable of doing it.

Christina

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Gilldiver@ao*.co* [mailto:Gilldiver@ao*.co*]
> Sent: Sunday, July 11, 1999 10:14 AM
> To: christi5@ix*.ne*.co*
> Subject: Re: Andrea Doria expedition photos.
>
>
> In a message dated 7/11/99 9:40:01 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
> christina@ch*.co* writes:
>
> > Unfortunately, this weekend's RMS Republic trip was blown out.
>
> Getting blown out on the Republic might have been a good thing.
> The following
> is over on the NBC News web site. Unfortunately it looks like
> wreck divers
> should keep off of the Republic until all is settled with the lawyers.
> Otherwise you could find yourself in court for the recovery of a
> dish that is
> "Owned" by one of these guys.
>
> Pete Johnson
>
> N E W A R K,   N.J.,   June 22 — For over 90 years, the RMS Republic has
> stood under 250 feet of calm waters off Cape Cod. But above
> ground, a stormy
> battle has developed over who has the rights to salvage the wreck — and a
> possible cache of coins that could be worth more than $1 billion. A court
> fight pits William P. Cleary, a personal injury lawyer in
> Hackensack, against
> Martin Bayerle, who originally discovered the ship in 1981 in the
> international waters off Massachusetts.
>
> The Last Time Under Water
> Both men have ventured in the ocean’s deep waters to examine the
> wreck. But
> Cleary says it should be off limits to Bayerle because he has not
> worked on
> the site for more than a decade, after leading a team that
> explored it for
> two months. Bayerle insists he is negotiating with the owners of
> the cargos
> aboard the Republic — including the Russian government — to forge
> settlements
> on dividing the spoils, and then will seek investors for a multimillion
> dollar retrieval project. Cleary said he is planning a “very careful
> archeological” approach, mapping the site by sonar, and then carefully
> removing artifacts. “We want to recover and restore all the precious
> antiquities,” Cleary said.
>
> Trinkets Vs. Gold
> Bayerle’s response: “If the gold is not on board, Mr. Cleary can
> go get all
> the trinkets he wants.” The 600-foot Republic, built in England
> and part of
> J.P. Morgan’s White Star Shipping Co., sank after colliding in
> fog with an
> Italian ship, the Florida, on Jan. 23, 1909, 50 miles south of Nantucket
> Island, Mass. Only six lives were lost, even though the Republic
> carried 484
> passengers and nearly as many crew on its pleasure cruise to the
> Mediterranean. They transferred to the Florida, which was carrying 650
> immigrants to New York from Europe. Bayerle has developed the
> theory that the
> Republic might have been carrying gold coins bought by the Bank
> of France to
> help Russia’s Czar Nicholas II fight the Bolsheviks.
>
> Wired and Wetsuits
> Bayerle, 48, who had run a scuba operation from Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.,
> says he operates Internet companies in Charleston, W.Va., but has
> continued
> plans for a major expedition. In November, U.S. District Judge John W.
> Bissell granted Cleary’s request to “arrest” the wreck. In maritime
> tradition, whoever arrests a wreck has the right, with court
> restrictions, to
> dispose of it.  In further proceedings Monday, however, the judge refused
> Cleary’s bid for an injunction barring Bayerle from conducting salvage
> operations within a mile of the latitude and longitude specified
> by Cleary.
>
> Another Diving Site
> Bayerle said that map location is seven miles from the actual
> resting place
> of the Republic, and that he has no interest in Cleary’s site. So
> the judge
> ruled there is no conflict — for the moment. Cleary promised to
> return with
> definitive coordinates after further exploration this summer and
> again try
> and keep Bayerle away. Cleary said he would seek investors for a major
> salvage effort next year if he and his team find treasure this year.
>
>

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