The outcome thus far in the “Black Swan” case has, of course, been tough on all of us. However,
we’ve seen an outpouring of public support through comments in media articles, blogs, editorials
and letters written to our company. Instead of focusing our energy on the negative aspects of the
“Black Swan” – things that were out of our control – it’s important to take note of the positive
things that have come from this experience. In an interesting twist of fate, a number of nations
have been outraged at Spain’s insulting attitude, ignoring the claims of parties that believed they
had a legitimate claim to an interest in the “Black Swan.” It has actually driven a number of
countries to reach out to Odyssey to explore how we can work with them to find and recover
their shipwrecks. That, plus the gratifying support from members of Congress, the determination
of a relentless team of professionals and the support of the public has helped us to emerge from
this situation stronger than we went into it. The “Black Swan” changed our company, but it did
not break us or define us. What we have learned from this episode has only made us stronger
and more resilient.
Our traveling exhibit SHIPWRECK! Pirates & Treasure continues to successfully tour the
country, and over a million guests have seen it to date. Currently, it is on display at the Mid-
America Science Museum in Hot Springs, Arkansas, where it is breaking attendance records set
in the 1980s! From Arkansas, the exhibit will make its way to the Museum of Science, Boston –
a venue that has over a million visitors each year and is the largest cultural attraction in New
England.
We know many of our stockholders were fans of the Treasure Quest television series and have
asked when it will be back on the air. We are pleased to announce that we have finalized an
agreement with JWM Productions for at least three one-hour specials following our 2012
recovery operations. We’ve already begun filming and anticipate that the new specials will be of
the same exceptional quality that we have come to expect from the JWM production team. Dates
and times will be announced in the future.
So, looking at where Odyssey is today, I believe that we have been diligent, creative and
unwavering in the pursuit of our business plan. When John Morris and I started out in this
business over 25 years ago, our dream was to build a world-class deep-ocean exploration
company. We hoped to build a business that was up to any challenge, with unique and
proprietary capabilities for locating and harvesting the incredibly valuable resources lying on the
ocean floor.
I believe we have achieved that goal. We are able to do things in the deep ocean today that no
one else in the world has ever accomplished. As I see all the projects we have under cultivation
around the world – and those that are finally ready for harvest, I believe our future has never
been brighter.
Thank you for your ongoing support and belief in the Odyssey team – and thank you for your
trust in our stewardship of your company.
Sincerely,
Greg Stemm
Chief Executive Officer
P.S. We encourage you to “like” our Facebook fan page (www.facebook.com/odysseymarine),
follow us on Twitter (@odysseymarine) and sign up for free email alerts
(www.shipwreck.net/register) so that you can stay up to date on Odyssey features and news
throughout this exciting year. We’ll continue to expand our online virtual museum
(www.OdysseysVirtualMuseum.com) and give you a peek inside the Odyssey world with our In
Depth article series. Our business development team will have some exciting new products that
will launch this year in the Shipwreck Store (www.ShipwreckStore.com). And for those of you
who enjoy the archaeological and historical documentation of our work, we will soon be
publishing an extensive volume of papers on the “Tortugas”, a 17th-century shipwreck. These
papers offer vast insight and new information on the world's first deep-ocean remotely-operated
archaeological shipwreck excavation. The “Tortugas” reports will be available on our website
and in the next installment of Oceans Odyssey 3.
Odyssey Announces First Load of Silver Cargo from Three Miles Deep
~Globenewswire
Odyssey Marine Exploration (Nasdaq:OMEX), pioneers in the field of deep-ocean exploration, today announced it has successfully recovered approximately 48 tons of silver bullion from a depth of approximately three miles. This initial recovery of bullion from the SS Gairsoppa, a 412-foot steel-hulled British cargo ship that sank in February 1941, totals 1,203 silver bars or approximately 1.4 million troy ounces of silver and has been transported to a secure facility in the United Kingdom. After unloading the cargo, taking on fuel and changing personnel, recovery operations will continue and are expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2012.This record-breaking operation has so far produced the heaviest and deepest recovery of precious metals from a shipwreck.
Good thing it wasn't me who found the ship. I would be in trouble about now, because I wouldn't have told anyone where I got the silver. Would you tell, and share with a bunch of fat-asses who sit behind desks and never do anything? I wouldn't...
TAMPA, Fla., Sept. 20, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Odyssey Marine Exploration (Nasdaq:OMEX), pioneers in the field of deep-ocean exploration, today announced that the company has received project approval and salvage contracts from ship owners for a major multi-year commodity shipwreck program with a potential total recovery value of more than $230 million based upon current commodity prices and related assumptions. The company has negotiated salvage contracts with ship owners that will award 90% of the net recovered cargo value to Odyssey for four separate deep-ocean shipwrecks carrying valuable commodities when they sank. There are additional valuable shipwrecks that do not require salvage agreements that can be added to the program and undertaken while Odyssey has a ship and equipment nearby.
Planning is underway to assemble the necessary ship and equipment for the recovery of these cargoes, which is targeted to begin as early as the second quarter of 2013. Search operations are anticipated to be completed very quickly with the recovery vessel so operations can flow directly from confirmation to cargo recovery. In addition, Odyssey has received an expression of interest from an investment group interested in providing non-dilutive funding to take the project to the stage where it will generate positive cash flow. Odyssey will evaluate this proposal, other potential non-dilutive options, and the possibility of self-funding the operation to determine the best course of action for long-term shareholder value.
"The work that we've been doing this summer on the Gairsoppa and Mantola projects confirms that our team can successfully conduct recovery operations on modern metal shipwrecks in the deep ocean. Based on this experience, we'll be adding some equipment to our suite of tools and improving others," said Mark Gordon, Odyssey President and COO. "This program is another opportunity to diversify our project and capabilities portfolio, which also includes archaeological excavation, conservation and documentation of historic shipwrecks as well as mineral exploration in the deep ocean."
In addition, Odyssey recently acquired a large private research archive that features a significant amount of primary historical data, including manifests, cargo contracts and other documents previously unavailable to the public or researchers. This huge collection of documents includes approximately 3,200 shipwrecks in Europe, the Americas, Mediterranean Sea, Asia and Indian Ocean regions. The cargoes listed include gold, silver, commodity metals and other cargo -- some of which are not represented in Odyssey's own databases.
"We were very fortunate to be able to acquire this archive in a private transaction" said Greg Stemm, Odyssey CEO. "The company that created this archive over a period of more than 50 years was one of the world's most successful commodity and gold salvage companies. Their archive is filled with valuable cargoes that were beyond their reach but are well within the capabilities of our technology. Our research department is currently analyzing and organizing the collection, but we've already come across some very interesting potential targets that we weren't aware carried valuable cargoes. We're looking forward to using this research in the development of future projects and to increase data available for projects already in our database."
Odyssey's operations in the North Atlantic are still underway after a charter extension, and Odyssey expects to provide an update on the Gairsoppa and Mantola projects on or before October 5, 2012.
About Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc.
Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. (Nasdaq:OMEX) is engaged in deep-ocean exploration using innovative methods and state-of-the-art technology. The Company is a world leader in shipwreck exploration, conducting extensive search and archaeological recovery operations on deep-ocean shipwrecks around the world. Odyssey also has a minority ownership stake in Neptune Minerals, a company focused on discovering and commercializing high-value mineral deposits from the ocean floor and in Chatham Rock Phosphate, Ltd, a company focused on discovering and commercializing seabed deposits of rock phosphate and other minerals. Odyssey also provides contracting services, including proprietary deep-ocean expertise and equipment, to governments and companies around the world.
Odyssey offers various ways to share in the excitement of deep-ocean exploration by making shipwreck treasures and artifacts available to the general public, students, and collectors through its webstore, exhibits, books, television, merchandise, educational programs and virtual museum located at www.OdysseysVirtualMuseum.com. The company also maintains a Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/OdysseyMarine and a Twitter feed @OdysseyMarine.
Following previous successful engagements in New Orleans, Tampa, Detroit, Oklahoma City, Charlotte, Baltimore, Sarasota, San Antonio, and Hot Springs, Odyssey's SHIPWRECK! exhibit is currently preparing to open at the Museum of Science, Boston on September 23, 2012.
For details on Odyssey's activities and its commitment to the preservation of maritime heritage please visit www.shipwreck.net.
Odyssey Marine Exploration believes the information set forth in this Press Release may include "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934. Certain factors that could cause results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements are set forth in "Risk Factors" in Part I, Item 1A of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011, which has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
I'm hoping that Odyssey will be more like TNG's "Where No One Has Gone Before" where they intentionally send themselves that far out and go in knowing their out of contact with their friends and family so there wont be so much angst.
Odyssey is ramping up for its 2013 season, and recently, Odyssey divulged '77% ownership in another seafloor mining company called Oceanica Resources, a Panamanian company.' Follow the link to read the article:
Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year Results
Tampa, FL - March 12, 2013 -Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. (NasdaqCM: OMEX), a pioneer in the fields of deep-ocean shipwreck and offshore mineral exploration, reported results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2012.
Fourth Quarter 2012 Financial and Operational Highlights
•Total revenue in the fourth quarter was $7.9 million as compared to $0.9 million in the same year-ago quarter.
•The majority of the silver recovered in 2012 from the SS Gairsoppa shipwreck was sold in the quarter with fourth quarter proceeds of $30.1 million to Odyssey ($17.8 million of this was credited in third quarter to expenses as recoupment of project costs).
•Shareholder value was created through mineral exploration and resource estimate operations which resulted in the development of Oceanica Resources in the first quarter of 2013 providing $15 million in cash and 62.6% ownership in Oceanica to the company.
Management Commentary
“In 2012, Odyssey made tremendous progress with our deep-ocean shipwreck projects using our advanced deep-ocean exploration and recovery technology,” said Greg Stemm, Odyssey’s Chief Executive Officer. “In fact, we achieved a record for the deepest and heaviest cargo recovery from a shipwreck during our work on the Gairsoppa, as we salvaged 48 tons of silver from a depth of more than 15,000 feet.”
“The subsequent multi-million dollar sale of silver recovered from the Gairsoppa demonstrated how Odyssey can monetize such assets, generate positive cash flow, and fund our operations internally. Our monetization of this project helps us to move forward on our pipeline of recovery projects and to pursue emerging opportunities in mineral exploration.”
“Such opportunities have already included development of Oceanica Resources, a newly organized company engaged in seafloor mineral exploration. As we recently reported, Oceanica controls exclusive mineral permits for areas that our surveys have indicated may hold highly valuable mineral resources. This led to the sale of a portion of Odyssey’s ownership stake in Oceanica’s which generated gross proceeds of $15 million for 15% of the company. We plan to use these proceeds for various other projects, including our planned silver recoveries from the SS Gairsoppa and SS Mantola.
“Looking ahead, we anticipate the weather conditions in the North Atlantic to allow us to resume Gairsoppa silver recovery operations in late May. Following the completion of the Gairsoppa recovery operations during the 2013 season, we plan to continue recovery operations on the Mantola shipwreck. We expect this to create further asset monetization and strengthen our ability to take advantage of the number of high-value projects in our pipeline.”
Additional Project Update
From September 2012 to February 2013, Odyssey monetized its silver bullion recovered from the Gairsoppa. The company received more than $41 million in proceeds from sale of the 1,218 Gairsoppa silver bars recovered to date, with $1.8 million received in the first quarter of 2013. Odyssey anticipates an additional 1,599 insured silver ingots and what could be a substantial amount of uninsured silver remains on the Gairsoppa site. The company plans to use the proceeds to fund new exploratory and recovery projects.
In January 2012, following a period of consultation, the UK Ministry of Defence and the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport transferred future management responsibility of HMS Victory to the Maritime Heritage Foundation, a charity established to locate shipwrecks, investigate, recover and preserve artifacts to the highest archaeological standards and to promote knowledge and understanding of Britain’s maritime heritage. In February 2012, the Maritime Heritage Foundation reached an agreement with Odyssey Marine Exploration for the financing, archaeological survey and excavation, conservation and exhibit of HMS Victory and artifacts from the shipwreck site.
The Maritime Heritage Foundation is currently awaiting final approval from the Ministry of Defence to move forward on the project.
Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2012 Financial Results
Total revenue in the fourth quarter of 2012 was $7.9 million, as compared to $0.9 million in the same year-ago quarter. Total revenue for the full year of 2012 totaled $13.2 million, as compared to $15.7 million in 2011. The decrease in total revenue year-over-year is primarily attributed to lower revenue from expedition charter services, offset in part by a $7.6 million increase in artifact and other sales. Artifact and other sales included $7.0 million associated with SS Gairsoppa silver sales in the fourth quarter of 2012.
Operations and research expenses in the fourth quarter of 2012 were $6.3 million, as compared to $5.0 million in the same year-ago quarter. Operations and research expenses for the full year of 2012 decreased to $17.9 million from $21.3 million in 2011, primarily due to a recoupment of Gairsoppa total project search and recovery costs of $17.8 million, which have been recovered based upon silver proceeds from the project in 2012.
Marketing, general and administrative expenses in the fourth quarter of 2012 were $2.8 million, as compared to $2.5 million in the same year-ago quarter. Marketing, general and administrative expenses for the full year 2012 were $10.6 million, as compared to $9.4 million in 2011. The year-over-year increase in marketing, general and administrative expenses was primarily due to an increase in the company’s professional fees and other services and an increase in employee-related expenses.
Net loss for the fourth quarter was $0.9 million or $(0.01) per share, as compared to a net loss of $4.0 million or $(0.06) per share in the same year-ago quarter. Net loss for 2012 was $18.2 million or $(0.25) per share, as compared to a net loss of $16.2 million or $(0.2 per share in 2011.
Cash and cash equivalents totaled $10.1 million at December 31, 2012, as compared to $8.0 million at December 31, 2011. The increase in cash was primarily due to Gairsoppa silver monetized in 2012.
About Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc.
Odyssey offers various ways to share in the excitement of deep-ocean exploration by making shipwreck treasures and artifacts available to the general public, students, and collectors through its webstore, exhibits, books, television, merchandise, educational programs and virtual museum located at www.OdysseysVirtualMuseum.com. The company also maintains a Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/OdysseyMarine and a Twitter feed @OdysseyMarine.
Following previous successful engagements in New Orleans, Tampa, Detroit, Oklahoma City, Charlotte, Baltimore, Sarasota, San Antonio, and Hot Springs, Odyssey's SHIPWRECK! exhibit is currently on display at the Museum of Science, Boston.
For details on Odyssey's activities and its commitment to the preservation of maritime heritage please visit www.shipwreck.net.
Odyssey Marine Exploration believes the information set forth in this News Release may including “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Report Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1993 and Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934. Certain factors that could cause results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements are set forth in “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011, which has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Odyssey Marine Exploration
5215 West Laurel Street
Tampa, FL 33607 www.shipwreck.net
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per share in 2011.
