Sailors jailed in Honduras released

US crew accused of smuggling guns were imprisoned.

Sailors jailed in Honduras released

Laura C. Morel

TARPON SPRINGS — The crew of a Tarpon Springs shipwreck salvage company that languished in a Honduran jail for weeks has been freed.

Hours after their release Thursday, the six men recovered their 65-foot boat from authorities and prepared for their 41/2-day voyage home.

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Source: tampabay.com

News release from the Aqua Quest website:

June 26th, Puerto Lempira, Honduras

It has been determined by an appeal court vote of 3-0 that Captain Robert Mayne and the crew of the Aqua Quest committed no crimes and on June 26th they were released from their prolonged detainment in Honduras.

It’s a great day for the United States of America, Aqua Quest International and Honduras.  Aqua Quest International has had supreme confidence that at the end of the day, the appeal court in Honduras would look at the facts and rule in our favor and that day has come.

We give thanks to many for the unwavering support that we have gathered throughout this ordeal and in particular, Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick and his staff who latched onto this like a pit bull for Justice since day one. We would also like to thank Senator Marco Rubio, Congressman Gus Bilirakis and Vice President Biden, all of whom contributed.

After returning to Tarpon Springs, Florida and spending some time with family and loved ones, we look forward to putting this unfortunate incident behind us and moving ahead with this Honduran project and the many other large projects we have on deck. These include one with Dr. Eugene Lyons, which we think may be twice as large as the Atocha treasure ship that Dr. Lyons helped Mel Fisher find a few decades ago.  We also have our current projects on the East Coast that we are looking to move on before the storm season can kick into gear.

We will soon be back out at sea and we thank all for their assistance and support.