Odyssey Marine News

U.S.-based subsea mining company Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. announced it has expanded its executive and legal teams. On Monday, the firm's Board of Directors appointed Christopher "Chris" E. Jones as Chief Financial Officer and reappointed Jay Nudi as the company’s Principal Accounting Officer and Treasurer.“As we evaluated our strategic plans and every part of our business over the past year, it became clear that we needed to add specific expertise to our executive team to allow Odyssey to execute on its strategic plan,” commented Mark D. Gordon, Chairman and CEO of Odyssey. “Chris brings extensive experience in international business development…

2015 will mark the 300th anniversary of the sinking of a dozen Spanish ships known as the 1715 Plate Fleet; plata being the Spanish world for silver. On the 30th of July 1715 twelve galleons, overloaded with Mexican gold and silver, left Cuba and sailed north carried by the Gulf Stream. Just off the coast of Florida between present day Sebastian and Fort Pierce they were struck by a ferocious hurricane. Some of the ships sank in deep water, some broke up in shallower water, and others ran aground near shore.

President Mark D. Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc., an in the field of deep-ocean exploration, has implemented its planned management transitions that were announced in August. Odyssey President Mark D. Gordon assumed the additional role of chief executive officer on October 1, 2014, succeeding Gregory P. Stemm, who had held the position since 2007. Stemm has become chairman of the board, succeeding Bradford B. Baker, who will continue to serve as lead director. Stemm, in his new role…

Deep-ocean exploration company Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. has completed the current phase of the recovery operations on the SS Central America shipwreck project. The recovery ship, Odyssey Explorer, has returned to Charleston, South Carolina, for necessary repairs and installation of new equipment, which is expected to take approximately two to three weeks. In addition to more than 15,500 gold and silver coins, 45 gold bars and hundreds of other gold nuggets, gold dust, jewelry and artifacts recovered from the shipwreck site over the past five months…

Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. has placed operational reports and inventories of items recovered from the SS Central America shipwreck site on the company's website at shipwreck.net/ssca.php. These items were initially filed under seal in the United States District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, Norfolk Division. Chief U.S. District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith has allowed the reports to be unsealed and made available to the public. Odyssey has been working since April 2014 under contract to Ira Owen Kane, the receiver for Recovery Limited Partnership (RLP).

Steven Libert, president of the Great Lakes Exploration Group, announced he has located what is believed to be the remains of Le Griffon, the first European ship to have sailed the upper Great Lakes. The 45-ton barque carrying seven cannons was built by the legendary French explorer Rene-Robert Cavalier, Sieur de La Salle who was attempting to establish a Northwest Passage through Canada. La Salle wanted to provide a faster way to connect France with its trading partners in the Far East and Le Griffon was to be a vital link in the route between Niagra and Illinois.

A deep-ocean exploration company in Florida says it has recovered nearly 1,000 ounces of gold, worth $1.3 million at current gold prices, on a reconnaissance dive to an historic Atlantic Ocean shipwreck. The dive confirmed that the ship had not been disturbed since 1991 when another company stopped recovery work, Tampa-based Odyssey Marine Exploration, announced on Monday. The ship's sinking in 1857 with 21 tons of gold aboard in a hurricane off the coast of South Carolina sparked a U.S. banking panic. Recovered gold included five gold ingots and two $20 Double Eagle coins, an 1857 coin minted in San Francisco and an 1850 coin minted in Philadelphia. The gold ingots were stamped with the manufacturer's "assay-mark" and weigh from 96.5 to 313.5 troy ounces. U.S.

A deep-ocean exploration company is seeking to recover a lucrative haul of gold aboard the shipwreck of the SS Central America, nearly 160 years after it sank off the coast of South Carolina in a 1857 hurricane. The 280-foot (85 meters) sidewheel steamship carried as much as 21 tons of gold ingots, freshly minted gold coins and raw gold from the California mines, as well as the personal wealth and belongings of its 477 passengers, most of whom were lost when the ship sank in September 1857.

Deep-ocean exploration company Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc., has been awarded the exclusive contract to conduct an archaeological excavation and recover the remaining valuable cargo from the SS Central America shipwreck located approximately 160 miles off the coast of South Carolina. The ship, which was immortalized in the best-selling book, "Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea," sank in 1857 with one of the largest documented cargoes of gold ever lost at sea. Odyssey was selected for the project by Ira Owen Kane…

San Diego firefighters knocked down an electrical fire that broke out Sunday aboard the 'Dorado Discovery', a 321-foot British-flagged research and survey ship docked at the 10th Avenue Marine Terminal, reports 'U~T San Diego', quoting city fire officials. The fire began in a storage area of the ship and caused minor damage, but it could take weeks to repair, reported the news channel citing Tanya Castaneda, a spokeswoman for the Port District and Harbor Police. The Coast Guard's investigation might delay the ship's scheduled Oct. 16th departure.

Odyssey Marine Exploration, a company in the field of deep-ocean shipwreck and offshore mineral exploration, appointed Mark B. Justh to its board of directors. The appointment adds a seat to the board, bringing the total number of directors to seven, including five independent directors. Justh previously served for 12 years at JP Morgan. There he was a managing director and head of Pan Asian Equities Distribution in Hong Kong. During his tenure at JP Morgan he was also responsible for Cash Equities Distribution in the Americas. Prior to JP Morgan, he was a partner at a startup fund in the media space, HPJ Media Ventures/DeNovo Capital. Earlier in his career, he was a vice president at Goldman Sachs International in International Equities. Justh holds a B.A.

The latest recovery from SS Gairsoppa reportedly set the world record for deepest, largest precious metal recovery. Odyssey Marine Exploration said it has recovered more than 61 tons of silver bullion this month from a depth of nearly three miles. This recovery of bullion from the SS Gairsoppa, a 412-foot steel-hulled British cargo ship that sank in February 1941, consists of 1,574 silver ingots weighing about 1,100 ounces each or almost 1.8 million troy ounces in total, sets a new record for the deepest and largest precious metal recovery from a shipwreck.

Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc., will ring the Opening Bell at the NASDAQ MarketSite in New York on Thursday, May 23, 2013, at 9:30 a.m. to celebrate the grand opening of Odyssey's “SHIPWRECK!” exhibit at Discovery Times Square on Friday, May 24. A live video stream of the Opening Bell Ceremony will be viewable at www.nasdaq.com starting at 9:15 a.m. EDT. "The exhibit features more than 500 authentic artifacts and treasures, a wealth of maritime history and some really neat interactive elements that are fun for all ages which let you experience what it's like to be a shipwreck explorer,” said Greg Stemm, Odyssey's chief executive officer.

At Discovery Times Square, New York, Odyssey Marine Exploration will show silver recovered from the 'SS Gairsoppa' shipwreck. The company's multi-media traveling exhibit, 'Shipwreck' opens at Discovery Times Square in New York City on May 24, 2013 for the first public unveilling of silver bullion recovered from the World War II-era SS Gairsoppa shipwreck. Silver which lay approximately three miles deep, will be on display in the first public showing of some of the 1,218 silver bars (approximately 48 tons) of silver recovered to date from the Gairsoppa…

Odyssey Marine Exploration reports financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2012. Total revenue in the fourth quarter was $7.9 million as compared to $0.9 million in the same year-ago quarter. The majority of the silver recovered in 2012 from the SS Gairsoppa shipwreck was sold in the quarter with fourth quarter proceeds of $30.1 million to Odyssey ($17.8 million of this was credited in third quarter to expenses as recoupment of project costs). Shareholder value was created through mineral exploration and resource estimate operations which resulted in the development of Oceanica Resources in the first quarter of 2013 providing $15 million in cash and 62.6% ownership in Oceanica to the company.

Odyssey Marine Exploration has four shipwreck contracts in place & has acquired rare shipwreck location archive for its database. Odyssey Marine Exploration, pioneers in the field of deep-ocean exploration,  announce they have received project approval and salvage contracts from ship owners for a major multi-year commodity shipwreck program with a potential total recovery value of more than US$230-million based upon current commodity prices and related assumptions. Odyssey has negotiated salvage contracts with ship owners that will award 90% of the net recovered cargo value to them for four separate deep-ocean shipwrecks carrying valuable commodities when they sank.

Odyssey Marine Exploration inform the 'Seabed Worker', will cease salvage operations to make a scheduled port call in Cork, Ireland. After taking on fuel, supplies and changing personnel, the Seabed Worker will immediately return to the site to continue recovery operations under an extension of the charter agreement. No materials recovered from the shipwreck site will be landed during this port call in Ireland. Pursuant to Odyssey's agreement with the UK Government, the company…

The recent dispute between Odyssey Marine Exploration and the Kingdom of Spain over the treasure and artifacts Odyssey recovered from the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes has recently been given considerable coverage in the popular press as well as in the maritime press. This has probably reinforced the belief of some people that marine salvage, by definition, is the recovery of sunken treasure. Actually, of course, that is only a small component of marine salvage. It has nonetheless…

Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc. report their progress on work on 'SS Gairsoppa' & 'HMS Victory'. The chartered vessel working on the SS Gairsoppa project, the Seabed Worker, will make a scheduled port call in Cork, Ireland, beginning August 15, 2012. After taking on fuel, supplies and changing personnel, the Seabed Worker will immediately return to the site to continue recovery operations. Meanwhile a 10-week accumulation of silver in the smelting and monetization process from the first load of silver delivered to a UK port.

Odyssey Marine Exploration (Nasdaq:OMEX), announced it has successfully recovered approximately 48 tons of silver bullion from a depth of approximately three miles. This initial recovery of bullion from the SS Gairsoppa, a 412-foot steel-hulled British cargo ship that sank in February 1941, totals 1,203 silver bars or approximately 1.4 million troy ounces of silver and has been transported to a secure facility in the United Kingdom. After unloading the cargo, taking on fuel and changing  personnel, recovery operations will continue and are expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2012.This record-breaking operation has so far produced the heaviest and deepest recovery of precious metals from a shipwreck.

Odyssey Marine Exploration, pioneers in the field of deep-ocean exploration, announce their contract with JBR Recovery Limited to support the logistics, refining and monetization of the anticipated silver cargoes from SS Gairsoppa and SS Mantola when recovered. Both the Gairsoppa and Mantola projects are being conducted under contract with the UK Department for Transport. Under these contracts, which follow standard commercial practices, Odyssey will retain 80% of the net salved value of the cargoes after recovery of expenses. Both merchant ships were torpedoed by German submarines, the Gairsoppa during WWII and the Mantola during WWI. During those wars, the UK government insured privately owned cargo under their War Risk Insurance program.

Historical records indicate the Gairsoppa was carrying up to seven million ounces of silver and the Mantola was carrying approximately 600,000 ounces of silver when each sank. Odyssey discovered both shipwrecks in Q3 2011 and conducted a series of reconnaissance dives to both sites in March and April 2012. Both the Gairsoppa and Mantola projects are being conducted under contract with the UK Department for Transport. Under these contracts, which follow standard commercial practices, Odyssey will retain 80% of the net salved value of the cargoes after recovery of expenses.

Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. deep-ocean shipwreck explorers, announce  it has delivered an additional closing notice for the Second Tranche of the financing that was previously announced in November 2011. The Company and the investor have agreed to a Second Tranche amount of $8 million. Odyssey is planning to conduct the archaeological excavation of HMS Victory (1744) under contract with the Maritime Heritage Foundation and cargo recovery operations on SS Gairsoppa and SS Mantola under contract with the UK Department for Transport in 2012. The Company has several other projects and government agreements in various stages of development throughout the world.