Abandoned Shipwreck Act of 1986

Abandoned Shipwreck Act of 1986 - Declares as a policy of the Congress that States should: (1) protect natural resources and habitat areas; (2) guarantee recreational exploration of shipwreck sites; and (3) allow for appropriate public or private sector recovery of shipwrecks which protect the historical values and environmental integrity of the shipwrecks and their sites. Allows any person engaging in the recovery of a shipwreck to which a State asserts title to receive reasonable compensation for such recovery.

Directs the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation to publish, within six months after the enactment of this Act, advisory guidelines for the protection of shipwrecks and properties.

Provides that the United States asserts title to any abandoned shipwreck that is: (1) substantially buried in submerged lands of a State; (2) in coralline formations protected by a State on its submerged lands; or (3) on submerged lands of a State when such shipwreck is included or eligible for inclusion in the National Register, and the public is given adequate notice of the location of the shipwreck. Declares that any title to abandoned shipwrecks asserted under such conditions is transferred to the State in or on whose submerged lands the shipwreck is located.

States that any abandoned shipwreck in or on the public lands of the United States (except the Outer Continental Shelf) is the property of the United States.