Odyssey Marine Exploration has completed search and preliminary inspection operations on its “Olympus” Project.
The project includes a cluster of five 20th-century shipwrecks believed to be carrying significant cargoes of gold and silver at the time of their sinking in the Northern Atlantic.
All shipwrecks have been located and Odyssey’s marine operations team has conducted varying degrees of reconnaissance to collect data on each wreck including multibeam surveys, sub-bottom imaging and visual inspections with a remotely operated vehicle (ROV).
The information gathered during this expedition is now being analyzed to determine the financial and technical feasibility of recovery operations on one or more of the shipwrecks in the “Olympus” Project area, Odyssey noted.
After completing the “Olympus” Project search and inspection operations and conducting equipment testing, the Odyssey Explorer returned to port in Cork, Ireland.
“ Once again, our experienced marine operations team has taken an ambitious assignment and delivered outstanding results, ” stated Mark Gordon , Odyssey’s chief executive officer. “In one 30 day rotation, the team located four new targeted shipwrecks and conducted reconnaissance on a total of five targeted shipwrecks. The data collected will allow us to plan the most cost-efficient recovery plan utilizing the Odyssey Explorer and a leased vessel.
“Targeting multiple shipwreck targets believed to be carrying bullion and specie and located in a relatively compact geographic area allows us to spread the risk and recovery expenses over the whole project,” continued Gordon. “ This approach also allows us to include other shipwrecks that may not be economically feasible on a stand-alone basis. ”