We intend to fight on, was the word from former Premier David Saul after his company lost a long court battle with the Spanish over rights to the one of the richest shipwreck hauls in history.Odyssey Marine Exploration uses sophisticated marine technology to recover old shipwrecks and their treasure.The Florida-based company discovered 17-tons of precious silver coins on the bottom of the ocean off Portugal in 2007. The coins are estimated to be worth as much as $500 million.The Spanish believe they are from the wreck of the Spanish Galleon Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes, which sank more than 200 years ago during a battle with British warships.Since the coins’ recovery, the company has been wrapped in legal warfare with Spain.Spain feels the coins are priceless cultural artefacts that should be kept on display there, and not sold.Odyssey argued that they had already spent nearly $3 million dollars to recover and preserve the artefacts and should be compensated. They also argued that the coins might not be from the Mercedes, and the coins were never actually in Spain. Odyssey also contended that the vessel was on a commercial trade trip not a sovereign mission at the time it sank, and therefore Spain had no real claim to the cargo. International treaties generally hold that warships sunk in battle are protected from treasure seekers.Odyssey’s appeal did not hold water with the courts. The company was last week ordered by a federal judge to give Spain access to the treasure and to ready it for transport. Odyssey said it would no longer oppose Spain’s claims.Meanwhile, the court also ordered that Odyssey had to turn over some coins and other artefacts that are still in Gibraltar.“We are complying to have the coins handed over to Spain,” Dr Saul said. “But we plan to go to the Supreme Court. It is the legal principle of the thing.”In the past Odyssey has worked with the British Government to find particular historic wrecks, with the agreement that they would split any treasures found on them, with the British Government.“I want to dispel a fallacy,” said Dr Saul. “There was no ship. We were searching 50 miles off Portugal in the North Atlantic in a couple of thousand feet of water. We found the coins strewn over hundreds of yards on the bottom.”He questioned how it could have been from the Mercedes which sank over 20 miles away.