Odyssey Explorer seized in Limassol

[silverking]

I wouldn't put too much stock in the EEZ side of the equation, as an EEZ is largely (and universally) focused on natural resources as opposed to cultural artifacts. For a country (Cyprus) to reinterpret their EEZ to suddenly include sunken ships is a stretch.
Even with an EEZ, the waters themselves are still universally considered international waters for the purposes of shipping (including sunken shipping).
EEZ's tend to be about fish, oil, minerals, wind power, etc.

And even if you did consider EEZ's when considering cultural artifacts, Cyprus is a country with some of the highest number of outstanding EEZ disputes on earth, they're currently in dispute with North Cyprus, Turkey, Israel, and Lebanon as to where Cyprus's EEZ ends, and where the other countries EEZ's begin.

I could (and do) imagine the folks at OE constantly having to work the "political behind the scenes" with emails, phone calls, and wires in order to get their artifacts back from Cyprus, and to continue on with this, or their next project.
I wish them well in that endeavor.

As one might imagine keeping the OE moving and working would take massive effort and resources on the part of the OE office folks back in Tampa, I seriously doubt they would bother to issue press releases for the many varied and assorted events that happen to the ship and its crew.
Nothing they do is easy, and everything they do has somebody waiting in the wings to claim whatever the OE finds belongs to them ... such is life on a deep water shipwreck recovery vessel these days.
Regardless, it's all hardly worth a press release just so folks on a forum can stop guessing.

That shipwreck retrieval around the world is getting more and more difficult is hardly news, and this current situation in Cyprus/Lebanon is no doubt viewed as "another day at the office" in the world of OE, her crew, and the folks back in Tampa.

 

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[Tnmountains]

Yes this is a treasure hunting web site. That is what we do.

Well yes, that is what Odyssey does as well, treasure finding and treasure keeping..problem.

AUnav

Perhaps you are are the wrong web site for your arguments then....big problem.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

TreasureNet is a treasure hunting website, if someone has trouble with members that enjoy treasure hunting perhaps they would be better off on an archaeology website vs a treasure hunting website.

 

[agflit]

OK...I follow this thread for a # of reasons, not the least of which is the sheer entertainment value alone. That being said....I find this particular thread rather intrigueing given the sense of ...well..shall we say "passion"... with with AUVNav seems to debate.
And T.H. ...I'm trying to walk a delicate line here...so modify/delete/amend or slap my hand if I'm over any lines please....
Specifically...I find myself wondering.."WHY...is this individual (AUVnav), SO entrenched in what at least to me....seems to be a very restricted point of view. I seriously am attempting to try and understand the logic which repeatedly seems to draw the ire of numerous responses here. I don't like to consider myself as one with a pessimistic personality, but quite frankly...I seem to await the next AUVnav response with a sense of negative anticipation the last several days...

AUVnav...and please realize I ask this in sincerity...can you PLEASE lay out your position and WHY you feel so strongly about OMEX to me in a logical and non-antagonistic manner so I can try and make sense of your side of this debate? I'd really like to understand.

With all that being said... I am NOT going to respond to a strawman argument, fictional blog postings or Ouiji board and tarot card readings...

Ag

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

OK...I follow this thread for a # of reasons, not the least of which is the sheer entertainment value alone. That being said....I find this particular thread rather intrigueing given the sense of ...well..shall we say "passion"... with with AUVNav seems to debate.
And T.H. ...I'm trying to walk a delicate line here...so modify/delete/amend or slap my hand if I'm over any lines please....
Specifically...I find myself wondering.."WHY...is this individual (AUVnav), SO entrenched in what at least to me....seems to be a very restricted point of view. I seriously am attempting to try and understand the logic which repeatedly seems to draw the ire of numerous responses here. I don't like to consider myself as one with a pessimistic personality, but quite frankly...I seem to await the next AUVnav response with a sense of negative anticipation the last several days...

AUVnav...and please realize I ask this in sincerity...can you PLEASE lay out your position and WHY you feel so strongly about OMEX to me in a logical and non-antagonistic manner so I can try and make sense of your side of this debate? I'd really like to understand.

With all that being said... I am NOT going to respond to a strawman argument, fictional blog postings or Ouiji board and tarot card readings...

Ag

Ag,

You didn't cross any lines, didn't even come close to crossing any lines.

Auvnav can no longer reply. TreasureNet is a treasure hunting website, he was opposed to treasure hunting so he was opposed to TreasureNet...

 

[agflit]

ah mannnnnnnnn.....do you realize HOW much thought...the sheer magnitude of cerebral weightlifting...I engaged in to formulate that response? I may even be accused of being "civilized" if anyone that knows me ever see's it!!

Geesh......sigh.....no good deed goes unpunished I guess.

I vote we change T'H's name to "KILLJOY"!!!


Ag

 

[Jolly Mon]

ah mannnnnnnnn.....do you realize HOW much thought...the sheer magnitude of cerebral weightlifting...I engaged in to formulate that response? I may even be accused of being "civilized" if anyone that knows me ever see's it!!

Geesh......sigh.....no good deed goes unpunished I guess.

I vote we change T'H's name to "KILLJOY"!!!


Ag

If you really enjoy AUVnav's posts, simply log on to the Yahoo Finance OMEX message board where he posts under the pseudonym "gar.scrappa" ( and quite literally, about a dozen other aliases). He has been relentlessly bashing Odyssey for years. It would be hilarious were it not so sick.

 

[agflit]

How Apropos... or is it irony?

AUVnav...and "Yahoo"

*cough cough*

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Please move on....

 

[Au_Dreamers]

Mark Gordon - President and CEO
"Well, I have to start to answer that question by saying OMEX has never been in the treasure hunting business...."

Just to set the public record straight.... A rose is a rose....out of context, is... well, out of context

"Mark Gordon - President and CEO

Well, I have to start to answer that question by saying OMEX has never been in the treasure hunting business. We are in the archaeological sensitive shipwreck recovery business for historic shipwrecks. And we do plan as I've mentioned several times to stay in that business, most notably with the HMS Victory project as our most exciting near-term historic shipwreck to work on."


Funny (not haha) I found the rest of the quote on...Odyssey Marine Exploration Prepares To Exit Core Shipwreck Business, Cash Burn Continues - Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. (NASDAQ:OMEX) | Seeking Alpha


Meson Capital...
"Disclosure: I am/we are short OMEX. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article."

I hope all goes well for AUVnav in his adventures post Treasurenet life... Maybe we'll read about him making a 3,000ft solo dive on a shipwreck project soon!! - sorry couldn't resist

 

[reindeer47]

Hello agflit, I obviously can't speak for AUVnav, but I think I know his objection to OMEX. I certainly can tell you my objection. I think they are not fully honest, I know they could be much less opaque, and I think that they don't consider the difficulty for the average investor when they don't provide sufficient information. They of course do meet their minimum obligations re: the SEC. But beyond that, they seem to be indifferent to the fact that we all know they're running on cash flow fumes (i.e. their cash position almost always is precarious), and they seem to not care if we investors are aware of the details, of the depth of the problem, of the very real possibility that the company will not be able to pay its bills.

Right now is a classic case in point. Let's start with the good news. In mid-December OMEX sold off a good chunk of their business. In return, they received substantial debt relief, along with $1 million in cash. They also have been working a site near Lebanon the last several months, and have been getting paid their day rate. OMEX's calculations were that the cash on hand (in mid-December) plus the payments for the work (at the day rate) would be sufficient to keep the company afloat through the end of March. This latter date is important, because OMEX hopes to receive a substantial equity infusion from a strategic partner. This equity infusion has the potential to turn the company around. However, the equity is ENTIRELY conditional on the Mexican environmental agency (Semarnat) providing a positive response to a project for which OMEX holds a 54% interest. So, to sum up so far, having cash through March is CRUCIAL. The company must survive long enough to receive (hopefully) a favorable environmental ruling from Semarnat.

The current problem, and it could be enormous, is that OMEX's salvage vessel--the Odyssey Explorer (OE)--has been tied up for over three weeks in Cyprus, and now for several days in Lebanon, as the Lebanese government determines whether the necessary permits to do the current project are in effect. This evaluation can take a long, long time. Now, even though the OE is out of commission, presumably through no fault of OMEX's, it is still possible that OMEX is being paid a day rate. After all, it's their employer (unnamed) who put them where they are.

But it's also possible that they're being paid nada, zilch, zero. And if this is the case, then OMEX (as is often true) will run out of cash shortly, and won't survive until March (when it is estimated that Semarnat will make its decision). So, this literally is life or death for the investors. And of course we know nothing.

And what do we hear from the company--NOTHING. And that's what's infuriating.

I could write much, much more, on a variety of different issues related to OMEX's lack of transparency (and I would go "out there" and also say lack of 100% honesty). I'll leave it here for now

 

[Jolly Mon]

Hello agflit, I obviously can't speak for AUVnav, but I think I know his objection to OMEX. I certainly can tell you my objection. I think they are not fully honest, I know they could be much less opaque, and I think that they don't consider the difficulty for the average investor when they don't provide sufficient information. They of course do meet their minimum obligations re: the SEC. But beyond that, they seem to be indifferent to the fact that we all know they're running on cash flow fumes (i.e. their cash position almost always is precarious), and they seem to not care if we investors are aware of the details, of the depth of the problem, of the very real possibility that the company will not be able to pay its bills.

Right now is a classic case in point. Let's start with the good news. In mid-December OMEX sold off a good chunk of their business. In return, they received substantial debt relief, along with $1 million in cash. They also have been working a site near Lebanon the last several months, and have been getting paid their day rate. OMEX's calculations were that the cash on hand (in mid-December) plus the payments for the work (at the day rate) would be sufficient to keep the company afloat through the end of March. This latter date is important, because OMEX hopes to receive a substantial equity infusion from a strategic partner. This equity infusion has the potential to turn the company around. However, the equity is ENTIRELY conditional on the Mexican environmental agency (Semarnat) providing a positive response to a project for which OMEX holds a 54% interest. So, to sum up so far, having cash through March is CRUCIAL. The company must survive long enough to receive (hopefully) a favorable environmental ruling from Semarnat.

The current problem, and it could be enormous, is that OMEX's salvage vessel--the Odyssey Explorer (OE)--has been tied up for over three weeks in Cyprus, and now for several days in Lebanon, as the Lebanese government determines whether the necessary permits to do the current project are in effect. This evaluation can take a long, long time. Now, even though the OE is out of commission, presumably through no fault of OMEX's, it is still possible that OMEX is being paid a day rate. After all, it's their employer (unnamed) who put them where they are.

But it's also possible that they're being paid nada, zilch, zero. And if this is the case, then OMEX (as is often true) will run out of cash shortly, and won't survive until March (when it is estimated that Semarnat will make its decision). So, this literally is life or death for the investors. And of course we know nothing.

And what do we hear from the company--NOTHING. And that's what's infuriating.

I could write much, much more, on a variety of different issues related to OMEX's lack of transparency (and I would go "out there" and also say lack of 100% honesty). I'll leave it here for now

Golly Gee. What a coincidence.

AUVnav is banned from the site. Just by chance a brand new member who also clearly has no interest in treasure hunting appears. Amazingly, this brand new member also seems obsessed with Odyssey's stock price and the minutiae of its business dealings to the point of mentioning Odyssey's phosphate mining operations on a treasure hunting forum.

I think the moderators should check AUVnav's IP address and compare it to new member Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer47's IP address...my guess is that they will find that these posts are coming from the same location. And it ain't Australia.

 

[Jason in Enid]

Owning stock in OMEX doesn't qualify you to know what they are doing on a day by day basis. No company on the world provides that information to common stock holders. If you think it is a wise investment, you buy stock. If you don't, you buy stock in something else. That's what it boils down to.

 

[Jolly Mon]

Owning stock in OMEX doesn't qualify you to know what they are doing on a day by day basis. No company on the world provides that information to common stock holders. If you think it is a wise investment, you buy stock. If you don't, you buy stock in something else. That's what it boils down to.

This is a sad, sick, pathetic individual who is consumed with jealousy. He lives in a fantasy world and spends literally hours EVERYDAY trying to bash Odyssey because he can't be a part of it. Don't be fooled. He is NOT a stockholder and never has been. He is also NOT an archaeologist.

 

[reindeer47]

Golly Gee. What a coincidence.

AUVnav is banned from the site. Just by chance a brand new member who also clearly has no interest in treasure hunting appears. Amazingly, this brand new member also seems obsessed with Odyssey's stock price and the minutiae of its business dealings to the point of mentioning Odyssey's phosphate mining operations on a treasure hunting forum.

I think the moderators should check AUVnav's IP address and compare it to new member Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer47's IP address...my guess is that they will find that these posts are coming from the same location. And it ain't Australia.

Jolly Mon Hello, I'm not AUVnav, honest. I do hope that the moderators check my IP address, make the comparison that you requested, and confirm that indeed, I am not he.

As I'm sure was clear from my previous post, I was providing an explanation as to why I am dissatisfied with the style of OMEX's management. The issue of cash flow, and the company's survival, is the only issue that matters between now and March (when Semarnat, presumably, will make their decision). And the fact that the Odyssey Explorer is tied up in Beirut is very important IF OMEX is not generating any cash, i.e. is not receiving their day rate.

I think that AUVnav often wrote with disdain. I hope (and I think) that my writing style is substantially different.

I'm actually quite interested in treasure hunting. I'd be pleased if OMEX struck gold, so to speak. If you don't mind, could you explain your basis for suggesting that I'm not interested.

I don't see why you should want to make fun of somebody's username. It doesn't really bother me, but it does show a certain disrespect. ("Rudolph the Red-Nosed").

Back to my IP address, I promise you I'm not in Australia. Try Tel Aviv. (And yes, this makes the Lebanon angle a tad more interesting).

 

[Jason in Enid]

Reindeer, I don't know who you may or may not be but I do know one thing. Any time people join a metal detecting/treasure hunting discussion forum solely to bash a company in that business are NEVER met with open arms. That behavior smacks of ulterior motives and hidden agendas.

 

[reindeer47]

Jason in Enid,

Of course you're correct when considering most companies. One doesn't need to know the daily cash flows. And of course one doesn't know. The company doesn't provide that kind of information.

It matters a great deal to OMEX, however, and to its investors. If my cash flow calculations are correct, they need to work almost every day between now and March (when Semarnat should make their decision) in order to get by. So, it's a weighty question, and an easy one to answer, if only OMEX would let us know. Are they, or are they not, getting paid a day rate for the "Lebanon excavation" while their vessel, the Odyssey Explorer, is tied up in port (first in Limassol, and now in Beirut).

 

[reindeer47]

Hi Jason, I'm in investor in OMEX, and I'm concerned.

 

[reindeer47]

Jason, hi again. Also, my post clearly was a response (hopefully intelligently so) to an excellent post by agflit, who asked why NAVauv was so hostile. I was trying to answer his question, speaking only for myself. (And hopefully I wasn't hostile, just informative and explanatory). Thanks.

 

[Jason in Enid]

If you are an investor, then you get yearly updates on their financial situation, past performance and future expectations. You don't sound like you really have any stock in the company. I don't even read my prospectuses, if I wasn't happy with a stock, I would sell.

If you are concerned, walk away.