Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc., pioneers in the field of deep-ocean exploration, provided an operational update relating to the activities of the three ships which are currently engaged in Odyssey projects.
The chartered vessel working on the SS Gairsoppa project, the Seabed Worker, will make a scheduled port call in Cork, Ireland, beginning today, August 15, 2012. After taking on fuel, supplies and changing personnel, the Seabed Worker will immediately return to the site to continue recovery operations. In accordance with the strategic recovery plan, no materials recovered from the shipwreck site will be landed during this port call in Ireland. Consistent with the agreement with the UK Government, the company will not comment on the status of operations or recovery of cargo until any additional silver recovered has been transported to the secure facility in the United Kingdom.
“We have elected to make our regularly scheduled crew change port call in Ireland on this trip as the port of Cork is much closer to the Gairsoppa shipwreck site than the UK port we will use for offloading cargo. Scheduling this port call here gives us an additional two, or more, working days on the site during the best weather period of the year,” said Mark Gordon, Odyssey President and COO, “Also, there is already more than a 10 week accumulation of silver in the smelting and monetization process from the first load of silver delivered during the last port call.”
Preliminary assay results, testing a sample of the silver already recovered and delivered, have been received. A sample of 30 of the silver ingots reveals silver (Ag) composition of between 91.661% and 92.051% which is exactly in line with the expectations. Two of the bars were also tested for gold (Au) content. As these bars registered between .030% and .040% gold, additional bars will be assayed and steps will be taken to recover the gold during the processing.
Odyssey also reported on progress with the Victory project. The Company has concluded the archaeological pre-disturbance phases outlined in the Project Design which were to be completed prior to the recovery of artifacts. A detailed site map is being compiled and will feature extensive documentation relating to the site formation obtained with the use of a number of specialized remote sensing technologies and photomosaic imagery. Mapping and identification of anomalies lying outside the site have also been completed. This process has provided a better understanding of the extent of the site, including identification and recording of artifacts associated with the shipwreck that have either been dragged off the site by trawlers or deposited during the sinking process. The Odyssey Explorer will be engaged in additional search and target inspection operations as a continuation of its “Atlas” project while awaiting instructions from the Maritime Heritage Foundation to proceed to the next phases of operations on the Victory site.
The Company also announced that the Dorado Discovery has been moved to Ensenada, Mexico to complete scheduled maintenance and upgrades prior to beginning its next project which is scheduled to commence in September.
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Press Release, August 15, 2012