Odyssey Marine Exploration to salvage gold from 1857 shipwreck

[G.I.B.]

Good morning,

Here is a link to the full article:

Tampa Bay Times

In part:

But the quest to salvage the SS Central America — which went down in 1857 in a hurricane off South Carolina carrying 425 souls, as well as thousands of coins, bars and nuggets of California gold — has produced a quarter-century of broken dreams and legal nightmares.

The shipwreck was found in 1988, a mile and a half down. The finder hauled up coins and boasted of a $1 billion treasure.

But paralysis ensued as waves of insurers and angry investors filed rival claims. Now, with the legal obstacles cleared, a Tampa company working with a court-appointed receiver has become the first to revisit the shipwreck in two decades. It is, the team was delighted to find, still heavy with treasure.

 

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[teklord]

During the dive, Odyssey's ROV ZEUS flew over the shipwreck to assess the current condition of the site. Gold ingots and other artifacts were clearly visible on the surface of the site during the dive and no excavation was required for their removal. Given the reconnaissance purpose of the dive, only five gold ingots, two gold coins, a bottle, a piece of pottery, a sample of the shipwreck's wooden structure, and an element of a scientific experiment that was left at the site more than 20 years ago were recovered. The positions of the recovered artifacts were documented for archaeological purposes and will be noted in the detailed site plan that is being created. The archaeological excavation of the site will be undertaken once the pre-disturbance survey provides detailed documentation of the site.

 

[bradyboy]

Maybe time to invest
Brady

 

[Darren in NC]

Over 60 lbs of gold recovered already...

More than 60 pounds of gold recovered from 157-year-old shipwreck off S.C. coast

 

[Jolly Mon]

Over 60 lbs of gold recovered already...

More than 60 pounds of gold recovered from 157-year-old shipwreck off S.C. coast

My understanding is that the recoveries took place in only about 30 minutes of bottom time...
This second salvage effort might end up being bigger than Thompson's...
Apparently there is a substantial amount of gold just lying on the surface...wow...

 

[jose50]

Apparently, Odyssey Marine Exploration (OMEX) gained almost 9% on NYSE yesterday. Result of a recon enroute from Europe yielded a few double eagles and several assayed gold bars just lying on the surface. They estimate bringing up another $86M in the coming months. Time to buy some shares...

 

[The Rebel]

Bought 300 shares last July. Hopefully the stock price will begin to move up rather than down. Also saw their show in NYC discovery Museum last summer as well, was VERY cool!

 

[Darren in NC]

Maybe time to invest
Brady

Bought 300 shares last July. Hopefully the stock price will begin to move up rather than down.

Now is the best time to invest. OMEX plummeted today. This past quarter is not historically their best quarter to gauge their success. Most of their best work is during the spring through fall. If you "channel" stock, it's been a great stock to channel between 2.00-2.25 lately. FWIW, OMEX isn't the best stock for a long term strategy - go blue chips for that. OMEX is great for short term buy-sells. Since they have only recovered surface gold from the Central America, we can safely assume they will find much more in the weeks and months to come. Buy now, sell when it spikes.

 

[AUVnav]

I am curious what you think about them jumping the Admiralty Arrest?
The recon dive was to get a few items to put in a new arrest on the wreck, so in essence, they dove a wreck that Columbus America Discovery Group had an Admiralty Arrest on, and was Salvor in Possession. It doesnt matter what we think about that group, it was still a valid arrest.
That doesnt seem very cool to do in this business, jump an arrest because it hasnt been worked in a while, there are plenty of those out there, Odyssey's Republic and Sussex sites haven't been worked in the last 10 years.

The stock plummeted because of the quarterly statement, losing over $10 million in the first quarter, and having only $6 million left at the end of March. By now that cash is probably gone. They may eventually be working the Central America, but after all these years, they should have more than one shipwreck every 5 years to monetize.

 

[Darren in NC]

Such is the nature of risky investing. If you don't like what you see in a company, by all means don't invest in them. I don't fault you for that. There are no guarantees in personally directing your own portfolio. If you prefer safer investing, go find a bond-based mutual fund. It's definitely a safer bet than OMEX. I definitely don't advocate reckless investing. Diversified investing is the key to not losing it all. But investing in low, mid, and high-risk stock is the best way to see the highest yield over time. OMEX definitely falls in the high-risk category.

 

[Bum Luck]

I wonder if Tommy Thompson will buy some shares..................

Maybe he'll file suit for the remainder once it's brought up?

 

[Denarius]

[QUOTEThe stock plummeted because of the quarterly statement, losing over $10 million in the first quarter, and having only $6 million left at the end of March. By now that cash is probably gone.][/QUOTE]

Whatever happened to the Gairsoppa haul. It can't be all gone can it?

 

[Darren in NC]

It wasn't included in this past quarter's earnings.

Oct 21, 2013 - "Our silver processing plan, hedging strategy and sales plan have been successful in creating additional value and cash inflows for the company," commented Philip Devine, Odyssey CFO. "We began to monetize the silver as of mid-September, have sold $21.5 million to date, and expect to complete the monetization process before theend of the year. We expect these cash inflows, which will appear in our Q3 and Q4 financial statements, combined with the monetization of our seabed mineral deposits and other income to place Odyssey in its best-ever best cash position and allow us to pursue a number of major projects in our pipeline."

 

[AUVnav]

The 1Q was just filed.

As of March 31, 2014, they had $5,767,721 left in cash.

So, yes, it is basically gone.

They just took out a $10 Million line of credit to fund the SS Central America recovery.

 

[Denarius]

What did they blow the money on? It just seemed like such a large amount.
Also whats with this Meson Capital guy? The share price has been seriously volatile and I was wondering if it was cause of him?
Anyway can't wait to see what they find on this one. Should be good.

 

[AUVnav]

Yes, the CA had quite the images last time, will be great to see more of that kind of recovery.

 

[Denarius]

How much gold do they think is left on the CA? Does anyone know when Omex will be back on the site?

 

[AUVnav]

Looks like its a bit of a legal mess now.
CADG is challenging the new Admiralty Arrest.

Word of the gold has brought many other claimants, the Williams Group, the Dispatch, which all have been in Court for years.

The Odyssey Explorer is back over the site.

(unfortunately OMEX just hit a new 52 week low and is around $1.35)

As for the ship, U.S. Marshals auctioned it off on May 11, 2013 and sold it for $50,000. Salvaging crews have found documents, ship logs, photographs, and other artifacts on board. The company has begun selling items on ebay including the ship’s bell, speaking tube and navigational lights and will continue to dismantle the ship and selling the parts.

 

[teklord]

How would CADG recover anything without a boat or crew? And who is CADG anyway other than Tommy Thompson’s brother in law and a lawyer just cited for committing a fraud upon the court? Who would fund them after what they stand accused of? Or is this just part of the short attack by a hedge fund who is trying to drive the share price of Odyssey Marine to zero? It will be interesting if the court requires CADG to make public their source of funding for this litigation.

 

[AUVnav]

Your facts are a bit off.
First off, it has been new counsel for quite some time, so I would be careful about what you say about attorneys.

While we may think one thing about CADG, legally, they do hold an Admiralty Arrest on the Central America. That is what one of the current Court battles is about, the new Arrest on the site.
Doesn't matter what equipment CADG currently has, it would take little to get a ship and team together to continue working the wreck, and I am certain they would have no trouble finding that these days.

Odyssey's stock was in trouble long before the Central America contract was announced.