Cajuncru Diver
Contributor
Best advice I can give on that subject is to check carefully the amenities in the local prison bordering your dive site-----probably not a nice place to visit, must less have an extended stay!
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A wag from Virginia no less !!!
Some basics:
A state's Territorial Sea extends up to 12 nautical miles (22 km) from its baseline. If this would overlap with another state's territorial sea, the border is taken as the median point between the states' baselines, unless the states in question agree otherwise. A state can also choose to claim a smaller territorial sea.
State in this instance also refers to country. Mexico is a party to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and thus claims 12NM off it's shoreline. This is sovereign territory of the country of Mexico. They own anything found in it.
Then there's the Contiguous Zone:
The contiguous zone is a band of water extending from the outer edge of the territorial sea to up to 24 nautical miles (44 km) from the baseline, within which a state can exert limited control for the purpose of preventing or punishing "infringement of its customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws and regulations within its territory or territorial sea".
Chinchorro Banks is 19NM from Mahuhaul so likely falls within this range. Unless there's a closer point of Mexican land within 12NM in which case it's Mexican sovereign territory.
But this last zone likely limits your options:
An exclusive Economic Zone extends for 200 nautical miles (370 km) beyond the baselines of the territorial sea, thus it includes the territorial sea and its contiguous zone.[3] A coastal nation has control of all economic resources within its exclusive economic zone, including fishing, mining, oil exploration, and any pollution of those resources.
If you found anything, the govt. of Mexico might categorize it as an "economic resource" But I'm no expert. If you do find anything, I would consult with a maritime lawyer in the country whose waters it was found - as I'm sure that there's a whole lot of other rules regarding shipwrecks, declarations of loss, salvage right and rights of ownership that I'm totally oblivious to.
pretty much what SteveAD said...:depressed: