AN EXPLORER owned by the billionaire proprietor of Walker’s Cay wrongly withheld a contractor’s 25-30 percent share of sunken treasure in Bahamian waters valued at billions of dollars, a US court has ruled.
Reed O’Connor, chief judge in North Texas, found on October 21, 2026, that Carl Allen and his Allen Exploration outfit had breached their agreement with Dan Porter, principal of Florida-based Maritime Research & Recovery, by failing “to divide treasure that is past due” following its recovery from a Spanish galleon that was wrecked on the Little Bahama Bank some 370 years ago.
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.
Read the full article on The Tribune:
https://www.tribune242.com/news/2026/oct/28/battle-over-billions-in-abaco-treasure/
