John F Moyer v The Wrecked and Abandoned Vessel known as The Andrea Doria - US District Court (D New Jersey) (Rodriguez DJ) - 18 November 1993

Preliminary injunction granted to salvor of wreck of “Andrea Doria”

In this case, the district court granted a preliminary injunction in favour of a salvage diver preventing other salvors from interfering with the plaintiff’s efforts to recover the certain valuable artifacts, including the ship’s bell, from the wreck of the vessel Andrea Doria . The judge held that the plaintiff had already conducted viable salvage operations on the wreck, so that the court had quasi in rem jurisdiction over the wreck even though it lay outside US territorial waters. The court further held that the insurers had abandoned the vessel, and that title to the abandoned property was acquired by the finder who demonstrated “occupancy” (defined as “taking possession of the property and exercising dominion or control over it”).