As a private individual with the means, could I legally recover one of these cars? I am not saying it's worth it because it would not be but I want to know the legality of it. In my expensive when yachts are wrecked/run aground and sinking it was free game in the Caribbean. Those things would get stripped before they are on the ocean floor.

Wired had a great article about naval salvage

High Tech Cowboys of the Deep Seas: The Race to Save the Cougar Ace https://www.wired.com/2008/02/ff-seacowboys/

That article was thrilling, thanks for sharing it

I believe you're only allowed to claim jettisoned cargo.

From NOAA

>Flotsam and jetsam are terms that describe two types of marine debris associated with vessels. Flotsam is defined as debris in the water that was not deliberately thrown overboard, often as a result from a shipwreck or accident. Jetsam describes debris that was deliberately thrown overboard by a crew of a ship in distress, most often to lighten the ship's load. The word flotsam derives from the French word floter, to float. Jetsam is a shortened word for jettison.

> Under maritime law the distinction is important. Flotsam may be claimed by the original owner, whereas jetsam may be claimed as property of whoever discovers it. If the jetsam is valuable, the discoverer may collect proceeds received though the sale of the salvaged objects.

If it is in a nation's territorial water there's going to be some caveats to that depending on the nature of the debris, circumstances under which it was abandoned and other specific facts of the situation.

There are all sorts of laws regarding property that is abandoned in various contexts that could apply in those cases and in many cases these laws can conflict with the maritime laws of that nation and international maritime laws (the former may very well just be a pointer to the latter in many cases). Handling these gray areas is why we have courts.

Imagine some subcontractor to an oil company is forced to abandon a small craft in protected federal land in Alaska. You've got federal maritime law, state law, federal law regarding resource extraction, federal law regarding protected land, etc, etc.

Some of these laws are intended to give the property owners the right to go get their stuff back on a very, very permissive timetable. Some of these laws are intended to let the locals, state, feds, even general public, claim the property almost as soon as their want in order to facilitate speedy remediation. Oh and remember, possession is 9/10ths the law so that could get weird depending on if the abandoned property is titled property, etc.

This crap can get real complex, real fast. A lot of these potential conflicts have been hammered out via case law but many of them also haven't and different facts can make the prior case law not very relevant. If neither side is willing to settle it could really drag on.

My understanding is that if you're able to rescue a ship you have to return it to its owner and they're supposed to compensate you.

Interesting to know the root cause - would assume combustion engine cars ship with bare minimum amount of fuel, so wondering if it is EV batteries which are harder to contain.

At least incoming to USA, there is enough fuel in new machines to move them around a little. After unloading they can be parked and next stop should be fuel dispenser, unless you want to hand prime (a diesel).

I wonder if one of the cars was the source of the fire.

Going to be a toxic mess when a EV battery pack cooks off in a cargo hold. Just a matter of time and circumstances.