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No one claims ownership of last slave ship ‘Clotilda’

In this May 30, 2019, file photo, traffic passes a mural of the slave ship Clotilda along Africatown Blvd. in Mobile, Ala. Alabama's historical agency is one step closer to taking permanent possession of the ship's wreckage since no one met a court deadline for claiming ownership of the remains, which were found in delta waters near the port city. (AP Photo/Kevin McGill, File)
In this May 30, 2019, file photo, traffic passes a mural of the slave ship Clotilda along Africatown Blvd. in Mobile, Ala. Alabama's historical agency is one step closer to taking permanent possession of the ship's wreckage since no one met a court deadline for claiming ownership of the remains, which were found in delta waters near the port city. (AP Photo/Kevin McGill, File) In this May 30, 2019, file photo, traffic passes a mural of the slave ship Clotilda along Africatown Blvd. in Mobile, Ala. Alabama's historical agency is one step closer to taking permanent possession of the ship's wreckage since no one met a court deadline for claiming ownership of the remains, which were found in delta waters near the port city. (AP Photo/Kevin McGill, File)

By Associated Press 2 min read

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) – Alabama’s state historical agency apparently will retain control of the last U.S. slave ship, the Clotilda, after no one else laid claim to the wreckage.

Friday was the deadline under federal court rules for any potential owners to request control of wreckage of the wooden schooner, which was scuttled and burned near Mobile after illegally bringing about 110 captives to Alabama from west Africa in 1860.

Because no one else sought the ship’s remains, the state can now move forward in federal court to take permanent possession, Andi Martin, a spokeswoman for the Alabama Historical Commission, said Monday. The agency already has temporary hold on an artifact from the wreck.

Researchers identified the wreckage of the ship earlier this year north of Mobile. It’s unclear how much the remains may be worth, but they could be priceless given the ship’s historical importance.

A wealthy Mobile businessman, Timothy Meaher, financed the Clotilda’s lone slave-trading trip after betting he could import Africans despite a ban enacted decades earlier, historical accounts show.