By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The treasure hunter salvaging a multi-billion dollar Bahamas wreck yesterday described its legal battle with a former contractor as akin to “a divorce from a bad partner” as it bids to ramp up exploration activities.

David Concannon, attorney and spokesperson for Allen Exploration Group (AEG), told Tribune Business that the explorer intends to be “out on the water” either later this month or by early May after taking delivery of a new 75-foot exploration vessel that will be dedicated to salvage and recovery work on the sunken-Spanish treasure galleon, Nuestra Senora de la Maravillas.

And he voiced optimism that their ongoing courtroom fight with Daniel Porter and his Maritime Research & Recovery (MMR) corporate vehicle will quickly reach the “merits” of the latter’s claim after a south Florida judge last week agreed with Allen Exploration that the case should be transferred to its “home court” jurisdiction of Texas.

Mr Concannon signalled that switching the venue will be to the explorer’s benefit and disadvantage Mr Porter, who he accused of continuing to hold Allen Exploration’s proprietary data on valuable gems, treasure and other artifacts it has recovered as well as its commercial dealings with the Bahamian government over the division of these recoveries.

Asserting that relations with the Davis administration have not soured as a result of the dispute, he added that while being locked out of its own data was “inconvenient” and “costly” for Allen Exploration it has “not crippled” its ambitions and activities to the extent that it has totally shut down exploration in the northern Bahamas waters.

Disclosing that one contractor has continued salvaging on Allen Exploration’s behalf, Mr Concannon said the treasure hunter - headed by the wealthy Walker’s Cay owner, Carl Allen - has used the months since late summer 2024 to “reset” in preparation for work to intensify again this summer.

He spoke out after Jose Martinez, a US district judge in the south Florida federal court, ordered that Mr Porter’s case before him be closed and dismissed and, instead, transferred to the North Texas federal court. He ruled that the two agreements governing their business relationship both named Texas as the jurisdiction for resolving any legal disputes.

“They tried very, very hard to persuade the courts that the case should stay in Martin County, Florida, where he had a home court advantage, so to speak. He wanted it there,” Mr Concannon told Tribune Business of Mr Porter. “We’re very happy. The judge is no nonsense, the court is no nonsense. 

“We’ve always felt strongly that the plaintiff’s case had no merit. We have been litigating side issues for the last six months, not the merits of the case; ancillary issues. Everything to-date has been on the side issues. Now we look forward to getting into the merits. I’m very optimistic of that.”

Mr Porter, in initiating legal action, alleged that Mr Allen and Allen Exploration sought to hire his expertise and skills to assist with the Nuestra exploration and recovery because they lacked the necessary knowledge at that time. He claims the two parties agreed “a treasure recovery operation” where Mr Porter and his firm would receive 30 percent of the artifacts recovered once the Bahamian government had taken its share.

The Spanish galleon, according to Mr Porter, is estimated to have sunk with a $5bn fortune at today’s values with some $1.5bn in gold and silver thought to remain unrecovered. He, though, is alleging that Mr Allen and Allen Exploration have reneged on their deal and are now refusing to pay MRR’s rightful share of $10m in “undivided treasure” that has been recovered.

Asserting that he and MMR are due between $1.5m-$2m from these recoveries, Mr Porter is also claiming that Allen Exploration has seized intellectual property worth $20m in the form of a map and recovery plan he produced for not only the Nuestra’s $1.5bn but a second Spanish treasure galleon, the Genovese, which was part of the same Spanish fleet and also sank in Bahamian waters centuries ago.

However, Mr Allen and Allen Exploration denied all claims and countered by asserting their contractor “failed to use money he was given to pay the Government for multiple work permits to pay for any work permit except his own”.

They also alleged he used their money to pay personal expenses, while using vessels and crew hired by AEX on salvage work for others while “rarely” going to explore the Nuestra site in winter despite being paid to do so. And they also claimed Mr Porter is “a convicted felon with a 30-year criminal history”.

“It’s been like a divorce from a bad partner,” Mr Concannon told Tribune Business. “It’s painful to go through, but in the other side you’re able to get reset. We just took delivery of a 75-foot vessel dedicated to salvage. We’re not leasing boats from anyone who gets paid to look and not to find.

“It’s just now come from Europe and has to be converted from North European to American. The crew will be smaller and, we hope, loyal. We haven’t had a problem with the crew there before. All the lessons that were learned from this experience with Mr Porter and MMR will be applied and inspire everything going forward. I’m optimistic about that, and I know Mr Allen is very optimistic about that.”

Allen Exploration, though, has accused Mr Porter of not only seizing but locking it out of its confidential, proprietary research and data on the Nuestra salvaging and recovery. Mr Concannon confirmed that their legal opponent has “still not turned over the confidential data”, which he described as “inconvenient” but not fatal while adding that Allen Exploration’s attorneys are working via the courts to address it.

And, having hired Mr Porter’s deputy, who “knows where to look and not to look”, Mr Concannon added: “Is it inconvenient? Yes. Is it a cost? Yep. Is it so crippling that we cannot move forward? No. We’ve had the winter from July, August to now to reset, and have been researching data and doing what we need to do.

“We will be out on the water by the end of April or early May if the yard doing the refit has no delay. There’s been one contractor working constantly. He’s been going out when the weather has been good and he worked with us before. He’s still continuing to work, and we’ve kept the crew employed at the [Grand Bahama] museum and with other activities.”

Asked whether Allen Exploration’s relationship with the Bahamian government remains strong, Mr Concannon replied: “That is still the case. We were upfront with the Government from the very beginning. What we learned about Mr Porter we shared with the Government. We didn’t want any collateral damage with that or as a result of this, and we’re grateful the Government gave us the breathing room.

“They’ve read the pleadings and what happened is pretty clear. Forget about the sideshow. On the merits it’s pretty clear. They will not take sides, but it’s pretty obvious from Mr Porter’s reliance on side issues. They gave us a lot of time and faith to sort things out. We had a good relationship with the last administration, and this administration, and the Allens are committed to The Bahamas...

“Like I say, a painful divorce but we still have our friends. We can focus on the merits. It won’t be over any time soon, but at least it will be on the merits. It’s taken up a lot of paper, a lot of ink, and a lot of time. Inconvenient? Yes. Painful? To a certain extent, yes. But it will not in any way make them [the Allens] give up and I’m grateful for that.”