Uruguay demands concrete help from Germany to salvage sunken ship
Montevideo (dpa) - Uruguay on Wednesday demanded concrete assistance from Berlin for efforts to salvage the German battleship Graf Spee, which sank off the coast of Montevideo in December 1939.
Hours after German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle visited the small South American country, Alfredo Etchegaray told the German Press Agency dpa that he wants the European country to get beyond words with relation to the sunken ship.
The Uruguayan businessman has a contract with the Uruguayan government that grants him rights over around 1,000 ships that have sunk off the country′s coast in the past 300 years.
He asked that Germany put an end to its opposition to exhibitions of the already-salvaged portions of the Graf Spee, such as the huge bronze eagle that was once on display on the battleship′s stern. The bird has a swastika in its claws and is currently being kept by the Uruguayan Navy.
The crew sank the 186-metre-long ship in the Rio de la Plata (River Plate) in 1939, after a sea battle with British ships.
According to his own account, Etchegaray has been working to salvage the ship, or at least important portions of it, since 1984. In 2004, he ecovered the Graf Spee′s telemeter, which weighs tonnes and is currently also in the hands of the Navy.
A free exhibition of the recovered material was held at a Montevideo hotel in 2004, but was cancelled after a month, "due to pressures from Germany," Etchegaray said. The Navy then took charge of the salvaged goods.
"I understand the precautions that need to be taken and the historical value of (the material)," Etchegaray said.
However, he asked that no unnecessary hurdles are put in the way of efforts to put the remains of the Graf Spee to cultural and historical use.
He noted that he has spent a lot in his efforts, and that Germany should heed his calls for "help and compensation."
Germany has no claims on the ship, because several documents prove that it sold its wreckage to a Uruguayan who has since died. dpa cc vf ro vs aw