The Tribune

BY NEIL HARTNELL

TRIBUNE Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE PARTIES battling over Bahamian sunken treasure said to be worth around $1.5bn have both claimed victory following the outcome of their bitter legal fight.

Allen Exploration Group, headed by Carl Allen, the multi-millionaire owner of Walker’s Cay in the Abacos, told Tribune Business it had “prevailed on the essential claims” that its contractor, Dan Porter, principal of Maritime Research & Recovery (MRR), had misappropriated its “trade secrets” to target other potentially valuable wreck targets located within Bahamian waters.

But Mr Porter and MRR countered that they had triumphed on their key claim that they were entitled to between a 25-30 percent share of post-Bahamian government split treasure recoveries between 2021 and 2024 for salvaging work performed on the Nuestra Senora de la Maravillas, the Spanish galleon said to have been carrying an estimated $1.5bn worth of treasure when it wrecked on the Little Bahama Bank some 370 years ago.

David Concannon, Allen Exploration Group’s attorney and spokesperson, told this newspaper: “I can say on the record that the court’s decision will have no impact on Allen Exploration’s current or future operations in The Bahamas. We view this as a good result.

“Mr Allen and Allen Exploration prevailed on the essential claims brought against them, and it was necessary to litigate the remaining claims to achieve a just result. The next legal steps will be to comply with the judge’s order to meet with the plaintiffs and jointly propose a way forward by November 8. This has not yet occurred.”

But Guy Bennett Rubin, one of the American attorneys representing Mr Porter and MRR, hit back in telling Tribune Business: “We are pleased the court recognised that Maritime Research & Recovery, through Dan Porter and his crew, earned its share of the treasure through years of diligent work and expertise, often under challenging conditions.

“The matter remains before the court, and we will let the court’s findings speak for themselves rather than litigate this case in the press. Our focus is on ensuring that Maritime Research & Recovery and its investors receive what they are owed, under the supervision of the US federal court.”

Reed O’Connor, chief judge in North Texas, found on October 21, 2026, that Carl Allen and Allen Exploration had breached their agreement with Dan Porter, principal of Florida-based Maritime Research & Recovery, by failing “to divide treasure that is past due”.

His 68-page decision, which has been obtained by Tribune Business, details how the first underwater exploration and salvage licence issued by The Bahamas in almost two decades descended into an acrimonious battle featuring lurid allegations - which Judge O’Connor found unproven - of drug smuggling and breaches of this nation’s Customs and other laws (see other article on Page 1B).

The North Texas chief judge also warned that the court will supervise the division of artifacts recovered from the Nuestra Senora de la Maravillas, said to have been carrying an estimated $1.5bn worth of treasure when it wrecked, and “appoint a receiver if necessary” should Allen Exploration and Maritime Research & Recovery (MRR) not agree what the latter is due.

However, Maritime Research & Recovery and Mr Porter did not have it all their own way. For Judge O’Connor, in what was described as ‘findings of fact and conclusions of laws’ rather than a judgment, found they had breached the confidentiality deal signed with Mr Allen and misappropriated “trade secrets” by wrongly retaining - and refusing to return - his exploration business plan.

And he also dismissed Mr Porter’s claims that Allen Exploration had defamed his reputation through letters written to the director of the National Museum of The Bahamas and Bahamian Immigration director, accusing him of “misappropriating company funds and dishonest conduct” and of “stealing from the company [and] violating several aspects of Bahamian law”.

Judge O’Connor found there was “a preponderance of evidence to support the allegation by Allen Exploration and its multi-million dollar owner, Carl Allen, that Maritime Research & Recovery and its principal, Dan Porter, had failed to return a “search database” for a wrecked Spanish galleon in Bahamian waters.

He added, in his ‘findings of fact and conclusions of law’ which has been seen by Tribune Business, that Maritime Research & Recovery (MRR) had violated the confidentiality agreement that it had signed with Mr Allen and his exploration outfit by retaining its proprietary data.

Judge O’Connor added that there was nothing to back Mr Porter’s claim that the data was already publicly available, and found: “Based on the foregoing, defendants established their claim that Dan Porter breached the confidentiality agreement and misappropriated a trade secret” under Texas law.

“Dan Porter, MRR, their sub-contractors and representatives are required to immediately return or destroy all of Allen Exploration’s confidential material in their possession, custody and control,” the judge added.

The ruling reveals that the Government’s share of the 2020 treasure recovery was $454,487 with the division and payment completed on August 10, 2021, just before the general election that brought the Davis administration to office. This then increased to $3m for 2021 and 2022 combined, with the Government receiving a further $359,189. Its four-year total share was $3.814m

Among the witnesses called to give evidence on the dispute, which covers five years’ worth of treasury recoveries from 2020 to 2024, was Dr Michael Pateman, recently named as executive chairman at the Antiquities, Monuments and Museums Corporation (AMMC), and the curator and director at Allen Exploration’s Grand Bahama-based Bahamas Maritime Museum.

The latter museum was established to showcase recoveries from the Nuestra Senora de la Maravillas, which sank in Bahamian waters in January 1656 and has been the subject of numerous salvage and treasure hunting expeditions. None have found the “golden Madonna”, made on the then-King of Spain’s orders, and which the galleon was supposed to be carrying when it sank.