Are sunken ships still owned by anyone a hundred years later?

I know ancient shipwrecks are controlled and disputed by governments.
But are regular cargo ships still considered owned by the original companies or their insurance companies?

IIRC, if ships are abandoned, they are fair game for salvagers. If the salvager saves the ship or any part of its cargo, they are entitled to compensation, either from the ship’s owners or the insurance company. This is negotiated, but if there’s an impasse, arbitration goes into effect.

http://www.njscuba.net/artifacts/misc_salvage_law.html

Certain vessels may be declared as war graves.

It depends partly upon the nationality of the jurisdiction within which it sinks.

Oddly enough, I’ve written a staff report that touches on this issue.

At least under U.S. law, the issue is whether the property is abandoned. If it is abandoned (this can’t happen with military vessels, because there’s a statute) then the finder gets it. If not, the finder gets compensation for salvage.

The leading case is Columbus-America Discovery Group v. Atlantic Mutual Ins. Co., 974 F. 2d 450 (4th Cir. 1992):

The Court ordered the lower court to apply the law of salvage. Which it did, giving 90% of the value of the wreck to the salvors.

The cases and much more are reprinted in Richard Cunningham, Archaeology, Relics And the Law (2005): Best Web Buys Price Comparison Shopping

I forgot to point out that one of the tricks is that courts tend to find abandonment if a case is filed and the original owner or his assignee doesn’t show up to assert rights in the ship. It’s in the case, I just neglected to point it out. And then the board started timing out, so I went to get my daughter a bagel. When I returned, it was already too late to edit. Sigh.

Here’s a timely newspaper article, albeit about a very recent (ship hasn’t broken up yet) shipwreck.

Seems like this would be a good candidate for a statute of limitations - claims of ownership could not be honored after _ years under water. Write your congressperson.