Odyssey Marine Exploration, the innovative deep-ocean exploration company engaged in shipwreck and subsea mineral recovery, which has captured the world’s attention with their successful harvest of millions of troy ounces of silver that went down with the WWII-era British merchant steamer, the SS Gairsoppa, announced completion today of their planned 90 day charter of the Swire Seabed AS vessel, the Seabed Worker, for 2013 North Atlantic operations.
Several key results have come out of the company’s North Atlantic operations, with the resounding success of the Gairsoppa recovery leading the way, after pulling a total of over 3.2M troy ounces of silver from an incredible operating depth of nearly three miles. Monetization of the Gairsoppa silver, combined with planned monetization of mineral exploration projects, set against the backdrop of the company’s technical successes, is much cause for celebration at OMEX. The company is now well positioned to fund scheduled exploration and recovery through to substantially all of next year.
The technical aspects of the recovery effort have become a major source of encouragement for OMEX, with newly developed subsea technology like a specialized cutting tool used to get into the secure compartments of what is a sprawling maze of steel shipwreck, broadly reinforcing the company’s horizons when it comes to new project opportunities. In fact, the myriad of equipment deployed on the 88-meter multi-purpose support vessel known as the Seabed Worker, performed beautifully. From the Schilling HD 5000m ROVs and 100 Te offshore crane, to more specialized hardware used on the Gairsoppa, as well as SS Mantola jobs (the Mantola is another merchant ship, in this case, one which went down during WW1).
These recovery activities have been a major coup for both Swire Seabed and Odyssey Marine Exploration, proving to the world that the combination of ultra-modern deep sea recovery equipment and experienced personnel, places hitherto thought impossible historic, as well as modern commodity shipwreck recovery operations well within reach. OMEX invites the public to share in the excitement over such shipwreck treasures and artifacts as well, with a variety of online media and merchandise available alongside educational programs and their virtual museum, www.OdysseysVirtualMuseum.com.
CEO of OMEX, Greg Stemm, clearly bristling at the monetization of the Gairsoppa silver, pledged to investors that the company would be roaring into both shipwreck and offshore mineral exploration contracts, further emboldened by the anticipated Oceanica Resources (in which OMEX holds a majority ownership stake) stock transactions and option exercises. Stemm called this the best strategic position the company has ever been in and it looks like smooth sailing for OMEX as they tackle scheduled exploration and recovery activities through the remainder of this year and well on into 2014.
President and COO of OMEX, Mark Gordon, praised the work done by the company’s offshore team, who allowed OMEX to recover the remainder of the insured silver from the Gairsoppa, setting a new world record for both the recovery depth and volume of precious metals. The contracts under which OMEX is operating with the UK Department for Transport afford standard commercial rates of return and Odyssey is set to retain 80% of net salved value of the cargoes (after recovery of expenses).
Gordon was especially pleased with the performance of the precision cutting tool used to get into the Mantola’s fifth deck storeroom, but explained that while the company managed to get into the target area, it didn’t make economic sense to extend the current charter, given the cost of continuing the charter and current price of silver. However, the shipwreck isn’t going anywhere and Gordon pledged to return to the Mantola in the near future, powered by upgraded versions of the successfully field tested technology that has been developed thus far.
Gordon also pointed to some recent on-shore research that could help pin down additional uninsured silver that went down with the Gairsoppa, as the research suggests the metal may still be on board. A task most likely to be accomplished via OMEX’s contracted commodity shipwreck program using the company’s own vessels, something which would equip Odyssey with substantially improved and much more cost-effective means of handling future deep water recovery operations.
To learn more about Odyssey Marine Exploration, visit www.OdysseyMarine.com
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