Odyssey Marine to recover SS Central America

[teklord]

TAMPA, Fla., March 3, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. (OMEX), a pioneer in the field of deep-ocean exploration, has reached an agreement in principle to conduct an archaeological excavation and recover the remaining valuable gold cargo from the SS Central America shipwreck located approximately 160 miles off the coast of South Carolina.
The exclusive contract will become effective and more information will be available after review and approval by the Common Pleas Court of Franklin County, Ohio, which has jurisdiction over Recovery Limited Partnership and Columbus Exploration LLC. Pending the approval of the court, Odyssey plans to begin work on the shipwreck site in April 2014.
Odyssey was selected for the project by Ira Owen Kane, the court-appointed receiver who represents Recovery Limited Partnership and Columbus Exploration LLC. Kane is charged by the court with overseeing the recovery project, and has the benefit of a permanent injunction and exclusive salvage rights over the SS Central America shipwreck granted by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern Division of Virginia.
"We circulated a request for proposals to nine of the leading organizations in the deep-ocean exploration and recovery industry and established a rigorous proposal evaluation process," said Kane. "We found Odyssey's combination of experience, equipment and personnel are unmatched in their industry and we're now looking forward to their team completing the work that was started more than 25 years ago."

 

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[hobbit]

There was a passenger on the Central America whose last name was Martinez. Therefore any gold remaining aboard is Spanish "cultural heritage".

 

[Guest 1551]

RUN! RUN Thommy Thompson! Best fugitive ever!!

 

[Guest 1551]

Glad to hear they're gonna get the rest of it though!

 

[MORE AND BEYOND OSSY]

There was a passenger on the Central America whose last name was Martinez. Therefore any gold remaining aboard is Spanish "cultural heritage".

haven't you flogged this horse to death yet !! Still upset about odyssey , poor baby

 

[NHBandit]

haven't you flogged this horse to death yet !! Still upset about odyssey , poor baby

Two sides to every story. Aren't you finished gloating yet ?

 

[hobbit]

Two sides to every story. Aren't you finished gloating yet ?

My comment was just a joke. I thought it was kind of funny.

You really have to forgive the Spaniard's touchiness on economic issues, though.

When your home country is a socialist economic basket case with over 26% unemployment, you don't miss a chance to take someone else's money if you can.

 

[Jolly Mon]

Haters gonna Hate.

Not only did Odyssey score Central America, it is looking more and more like they are going to get H.M.S. Victory as well.

Here is a copy and paste snippet from the UK Mailonline: "The Ministry of Defence has said recovery could go ahead under the 'auspices of a charity'.
The Maritime Heritage Foundation, which was set up by Lord Lingfield, formerly Sir Robert Balchin a descendant of Admiral Sir John Balchen, the ship's commander, was founded for the purpose.
It has submitted plans to the MoD and Department for Culture, Media and Sport and agreed a contract with Odyssey which would give the firm 80 per cent of the value of coins and bullion and 50 per cent of the value of cultural artefacts."

Anger at U.S. bounty hunters as they submit plans to raise gold coins worth hundreds of millions from the wreck of HMS Victory | Mail Online

US treasure hunters ready to snatch gold from the jaws of Victory - Telegraph

HMS Victory - Project Overview


Of course the Euro archies are doing everything they can to stop progress, even stooping to referring to Odyssey as "American Bounty Hunters".

All this notwithstanding, OMEX stock is up over 30% since early December. Central America alone probably has around $450 million worth of gold still aboard.

 

[MORE AND BEYOND OSSY]

My comment was just a joke. I thought it was kind of funny. You really have to forgive the Spaniard's touchiness on economic issues, though. When your home country is a socialist economic basket case with over 26% unemployment, you don't miss a chance to take someone else's money if you can.

I can can see why you are looking for Spanish Gold The Top 10 States With Worst Budget Problems - ABC News
Just print more money and give out IOU's

 

[hobbit]

I can can see why you are looking for Spanish Gold The Top 10 States With Worst Budget Problems - ABC News Just print more money and give out IOU's

That article link is a real laugher...especially since it is from 2009.
The reality in 2014 is that almost every state in the Union has a substantial budget surplus. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/03/u...es-over-what-to-do-with-budget-surpluses.html
The question in most states is simply how to spend the excess money.
As far as printing IOU's goes, an IOU from the United States is worth more than Spanish gold. Literally.
Unites States Treasury Bills are the safest investment in the world, again, quite literally.
That is why so much foreign money pours into US "T" bills during tough economic times.
Everyone...the Chinese, Japanese, Germans, Saudi's even the Russians and other traditional US enemies limit their exposure to economic uncertainty by investing in United States Treasuries.
The United States has a GDP over twice that of China...and equal to that of the entire European Union.
With the rise of Fracking technology, the United States will once again be the world's largest producer of petroleum in just a few years.
US economic problems are quite short term and are far from systemic. Our budget deficit is primarily the result of declining tax revenue during the recession and some unwise spending decisions by folks in Washington.
The United States is still far and away the richest country on earth with the deepest and most advanced economy and stupendous reserves of capital.
Spain, meanwhile, has over 26% unemployment, a deflating currency which threatens any possible long term recovery and a staggering outflow of young people expatriating for economic opportunity that just does not exist on the Iberian Peninsula.
Couple this with one of the lowest fertility rates in the industrialized world and a rapidly aging population...and what you have is a country facing a nightmare scenario.
Maybe Germany or some other country which still values initiative and hard work will bail you out.
Then again, maybe not.

 

[Jolly Mon]

Here is a good link to an article from Seeking Alpha on Odyssey and the Central America project:

Odyssey Marine Exploration And The SS Central America - Green River Asset - Seeking Alpha


The "Folks" at Meson Capital (AKA Ryan Morris) have been awfully quiet lately...one wonders how much money they have already made through their defamatory short attacks.

 

[NHBandit]

I can can see why you are looking for Spanish Gold The Top 10 States With Worst Budget Problems - ABC News Just print more money and give out IOU's

Been watching you post confrontational stuff for years and cheer everytime Spain get's to take something from those who worked for it by doing no work themselves other than having high priced lawyers. Cool whatever. It takes all kinds. Buttt... this is a treasure hunting forum. Why do YOU come here ? The mere mention of Odyssey brings you out of the shadows ready for a fight regardless of what they happen to be working on or where. Odd..

 

[old man]

There was a passenger on the Central America whose last name was Martinez. Therefore any gold remaining aboard is Spanish "cultural heritage".

hobbit,
The Martinez that you mention in your post was a 2nd Generation Californian. Spain can't claim that one. Plus 1 for Odyssey on the Central America.

 

[Jason in Enid]

So how much did the first salvage effort leave behind? Have they ever caught the first guy who ended up running off with all the first salvaged coins?

 

[MPH200]

hobbit,
The Martinez that you mention in your post was a 2nd Generation Californian. Spain can't claim that one. Plus 1 for Odyssey on the Central America.

I believe Tommy Thompson is sill on the run.

 

[Jolly Mon]

So how much did the first salvage effort leave behind? Have they ever caught the first guy who ended up running off with all the first salvaged coins?

I think the short answer is that no one knows for sure. There is a pretty good discussion of the various possibilities on the link I posted from Green River Assets/ Seeking Alpha.

Supposedly, there was 30,000 lbs. of gold aboard when she went down. Thompson's group apparently recovered 3 metric tons. That would leave 350,000 or so ounces left to be recovered. Lots of money...maybe $400 to $500 million in bullion value. Much of the gold will probably be in the form of Double Eagles, however. These will probably be worth far more than melt value. Of course, there are also rumors of a secret cargo of government gold aboard, but that is "cloak and dagger" stuff...

 

[Jolly Mon]

Press release from today: Court Approves Odyssey Marine Exploration Contract for Gold Cargo Recovery From SS Central America Shipwreck - Yahoo Finance

 

[G.I.B.]

Here is the Tampa Bay Times article.

 

[NHBandit]

Quote "Court records show that Odyssey Marine will advance the cost for the recovery. If the company fails to recover the treasure, it will absorb all the costs." AND what ever they find, more than half goes back to the original investors who got ripped off the first time. I can't wait to see how the haters spin this one to try to make them the bad guys.... Personally I wish them nothing but success and can't wait to see what they find.

 

[Jolly Mon]

Here is a new article from Newsweek on the Central America project. The article contains a couple of obscene pictures. Adult supervision required.

http://mag.newsweek.com/2014/03/28/s-s-central-america-treasure-titanic-gold-shipwreck.html