Odyssey Marine Exploration
Odyssey Marine Exploration is a sea exploration and salvage company located in Florida.
Odyssey is known for recovering portions of the cargoes of the SS Republic and the code-named Black Swan Project.[1][2] Odyssey is traded on the NASDAQ Stock Market under the symbol 'OMEX'.
HMS Sussex
Between 1998 and 2001, Odyssey Marine Exploration searched for HMS Sussex and now believes that it has located the shipwreck at a depth of 1,000 metres. The ship sank in a storm in 1694 when during the War of the Grand Alliance it was transporting 10 tons of gold coins to buy the allegiance of the Duke of Savoy, Victor Amadeus II, against France.
In October 2002, Odyssey agreed a deal with the rightful owner, the British government, on a formula for sharing any potential spoils. Odyssey is to get 80 percent of the proceeds up to $45 million, 50 percent from $45 million to $500 million and 40 percent above $500 million. The British government gets the rest.
The company was poised to start the excavation in 2003, but it was delayed amid a raft of complaints from archaeological organisations and charities, including the Council for British Archaeology, Rescue, and the Institute of Field Archaeologists, denouncing it as a dangerous precedent for the "ransacking" of shipwrecks by private firms under the aegis of archaeological research.[3][4][5] An early day motion was signed by 60 British MPs condemning the treasure hunting.[3]
Just as Odyssey was about to start an excavation, it was stopped by the Spanish authorities, in particular the Junta of Andalusia in January 2006. In early June 2006, Odyssey provided clarification on all points to the Kingdom of Spain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the offices of the Embassy of the United Kingdom. Odyssey is awaiting final comments on the plan before resuming operations on the shipwreck believed to be HMS Sussex.
In March 2007, Andalusia gave her assent for the excavation to start with the condition that Spanish archeologists are to take part in the excavation in order to ascertain that the shipwreck to be excavated is indeed the Sussex and not a Spanish galleon.[6]
Black Swan Project
In May 2007, the company found an estimated 500 million USD (253 million GBP) worth of silver and gold coins, from a wreck, believed to be the Merchant Royal, which sank about 40 miles off the coast of Cornwall, UK in 1641.[1][7] If the estimate is correct, this would be the largest ever find, beating a 400 million USD find in 1985 of the Nuestra Señora de Atocha by Mel Fisher.[8]
Criticism
The past activities of Odyssey Marine Exploration have been controversial and heavily criticised by organisations and charities such as the Council for British Archaeology, Institute of Field Archaeologists and Rescue as "ransacking" of shipwrecks by private firms under the aegis of archaeological research.[3][4][5][9] An early day motion was signed by over 60 British MPs condemning the salvage of HMS Sussex as treasure hunting.[3]
The Spanish Government, as of May 2007, is investigating whether the shipwreck recovered by the Black Swan Project is in international waters, or not. If in Spanish waters, the removal of artifacts could well be a crime.[10][11]. On July 12th 2007, The Coast Guard seized the Odyssey Marine Exploration research vessel, Ocean Alert, at 3.5n miles of the European coast. The Coast Guard (Civil Guard of Spain) is responsible of Custom Control and European Union borders in this region, under the EU Schengen Agreement. The ship was ordered to sail to the Spanish port of Algeciras to undergo a search and inspection ordered by the Judge. </ref> http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_10544.shtml </ref>. The believe that artefacts on board the shipwrecked could be worth a total of 370 million euros (500 million dollars) led to strong presions and the use of third courtry flags (Panama as [12] )and dispute over territorial waters.
Ownership
Political figure and US Presidential Candidate John Edwards owns a sizeable portion of Odyssey Marine Exploration. [13]
References
- ^ a b Shipwreck yields historic riches -- $500M worth - CNN, May 19 2007 Cite error: The named reference "CNN" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ Record wreck 'found off Cornwall' - BBC News, May 19 2007
- ^ a b c d GIFFORDS TO DIG 'BILLION DOLLAR' SITE - Digger, May 20 2007 Cite error: The named reference "Digger" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ a b HMS Sussex - Rescue, May 20 2007
- ^ a b HMS Sussex - CBA, May 20 2007
- ^ En busca del tesoro del 'HMS Sussex' (Spanish) ELPAIS.com, 24 March 2007. Retrieved on 2007-05-20
- ^ Shipwreck yields estimated $500 million in gold and silver coins - International Herald Tribune, May 18 2007 [Obtained May 19, 2007]
- ^ A Bountiful Undersea Find, Sure to Invite Debate - New York Times, May 19 2007
- ^ HMS Sussex - CBA press release, May 20 2007
- ^ Spain Probes Treasure Hunters - The Guardian, May 21 2007
- ^ Spain suspicious over £250m treasure haul - The Independent, May 21 2007
- ^ [> http://uk.news.yahoo.com/afp/20070712/tts-spain-us-treasure-3c8ed92.html
- ^ Brett Arends (2007-05-23). "John Edwards Stakes His Claim on Pirate Booty".