If Captain Cook's ship is found, whose is it? Rhode Island's

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — If the ship legendary explorer Capt. James Cook used to sail around the world is found at the bottom of Newport Harbor, Rhode Island will own it outright because of a legal maneuver it took nearly two decades ago based on an obscure, centuries-old maritime practice.

In 1999, Rhode Island went to federal court in Providence to do what's known as "arresting" the shipwrecks in the harbor — having the government take possession of them so a federal court could consider the state's ownership claim.

In the Colonial era, if a ship was in port and money was owed for repairs, supplies or other fees, it could be impossible to locate the owner or even figure out who the owner was, said Dennis Nixon, an expert in marine and coastal law at the University of Rhode Island.

In a modern twist, Rhode Island asked the federal court to use its admiralty and maritime jurisdiction to secure the wrecks and declare the state the owner.

A 1988 federal law that gave states control of abandoned shipwrecks embedded in their waters was the basis for Rhode Island's ownership claim, said Roger Williams University Law Professor Jonathan Gutoff, an expert in maritime law.

The British government could have claimed it owns the Endeavour if it compensated the owner for the loss, though it could be argued its rights were surrendered when the Navy sank the vessel.