Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. announced that the Republic of Peru filed a motion in federal court in one of the company’s pending admiralty cases. As anticipated after numerous statements in the media, Peru formally filed a Verified Conditional Claim in the “Black Swan” admiralty case, which was originally filed by Odyssey Marine Exploration. The case is currently pending before the U.S. District Court in Tampa, Florida.

“Odyssey’s position is to encourage every appropriate claimant to present its potential claims in a case like this, so we welcome Peru’s filing, even as the Company reserves its legal position. If the court does not find that the property was abandoned, we believe that the property in the “Black Swan” case would be handled under the traditional law of salvage,” said Greg Stemm, Odyssey Chief Executive Officer.

The nature of a salvage award is that the award to the salvor is not dependent upon the number of claimants. Claimants other than the salvor must either enter into an agreement amongst themselves to split the owner’s percentage of a find or submit their individual claims to the court for adjudication. For instance, in the case of the Central America, an award of 92% of the cargo was made to the salvor, and the remaining 8% was held in trust while various insurance companies were given the opportunity to present their respective claims.

“We believe that Peru’s filing raises a significant and timely question relating to whether a former colonial power or the colonized indigenous peoples should receive the cultural and financial benefit of underwater cultural heritage derived from the previously colonized nations. Odyssey would be pleased to involve Peru in the study and archaeological investigation of any property that is found to have originated in Peru, without regard for whether Peru has any legal rights to the property. We would also be pleased to extend the same courtesy to any other sovereign government, indigenous people, relatives or descendants who might have a legitimate claim or interest in property discovered on any of Odyssey’s shipwrecks,” Mr. Stemm added.

Tampa, FL - May 29, 2008 - Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. (NasdaqCM: OMEX), the world leader in the field of deep-ocean shipwreck exploration, today filed Admiralty Arrest Complaints in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida on two separate shipwreck sites recently discovered by the Company.

Both sites lie within the general area of the English Channel but are outside the territorial waters or contiguous zone of any sovereign nation. The sites both contain cannon and other artifacts which are believed to date from the Colonial period. Odyssey has conducted preliminary surveys but has not yet been able to confirm the identity of either site. The Company’s archaeological and conservation teams are currently developing archaeological excavation and conservation plans for both sites.

As with other shipwreck sites that the Company discovers, if either site can be identified, any potential claimants will be notified through appropriate private or public notices.

Odyssey’s core business is shipwreck exploration and archaeological excavation, so filing arrests on shipwreck sites to protect the Company’s legal interests occurs in the normal course of business. For security reasons, no additional information about these sites is being released at this time.

Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. (NASDAQ:OMEX), the world leader in deep ocean shipwreck exploration, has granted Primetime Emmy® Award-winning JWM Productions exclusive access to film Odyssey’s 2008 Atlas Search expeditions to produce a shipwreck exploration television series. Discovery Channel expects to premiere the 11-part High Definition (HD) series to worldwide audiences in 2009. Production is slated to begin immediately.

“We have the most experienced team of shipwreck explorers in the world manning our ships, and on a regular basis they make amazing discoveries in the deep ocean - things that have never before been seen by human eyes. We’re proud of the exploration and archaeological work our team accomplishes in the challenging offshore environment, and for a long time we’ve been looking for the right format to share the excitement of our expeditions with viewers around the world,” stated Greg Stemm, Odyssey’s Chief Executive Officer.

“JWM has a proven track record of producing smart, compelling television and Discovery Channel is the #1 media and television brand in overall quality for the eighth straight year. We’re sure that Discovery’s viewers will enjoy ‘being there’ during our shipwreck search and exploration expeditions,” Stemm continued. (more…)

TAMPA, Fla. - (Business Wire) Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. (Nasdaq:OMEX), the world leader in the field of deep-ocean shipwreck exploration, announced today that Spain’s claim in Admiralty case number 8:07-CV-00616 has been dismissed pursuant to a motion filed on behalf of the Government of Spain. The shipwreck in this case is believed to be a 20th century passenger liner reported to be carrying valuable cargo.

Following Odyssey’s May 2007 announcement of the recovery of 17 tons of silver and gold coins from the “Black Swan” site, Spain filed claims with the U.S. District Court’s Tampa Division in three of the Company’s pending admiralty arrests. Odyssey made it clear that the Company was unaware of evidence suggesting any potential Spanish interest in the site, yet Spain pursued its claim without providing any information as to the basis for that claim.

“We are very pleased that Spain has acknowledged that its claim to this particular shipwreck is unfounded, and we are now looking forward to moving ahead in resolving all issues expeditiously with the other two cases,” said Greg Stemm, Odyssey’s Chief Executive Officer.

“Technically, Spain’s dismissal of its claim in this case has no bearing on the other two arrests, but this shows that just because Spain files a claim against a particular wreck site does not mean it has a valid basis, or as in this case, any evidence whatsoever to support that claim,” commented Melinda MacConnel, General Counsel for Odyssey. (more…)

WASHINGTON — US treasure hunters who allegedly extracted rich spoils from a sunken wreck in Spanish waters hailed three court rulings Wednesday that protect the secret location of their find.

The legal dispute began in May last year when Odyssey Marine Exploration announced that it had found half a million silver coins and hundreds of gold objects, somewhere in “international waters in the Atlantic Ocean”.

Spain filed claims with a court in Tampa, Florida, arguing that if the shipwreck was Spanish or located in Spanish waters, any treasure would belong to Spain. Odyssey said in a statement that US judge Mark Pizzo had issued three orders “that the company believes will help to expeditiously move these cases forward”.

Two of the rulings were made in reference to a Spanish request to “compel compliance and to declare certain materials as not confidential”, it said.

The judge ruled that although artifact summaries and pictures are not confidential, “in the interest of protecting the site, other information including the preliminary site assessments, the site plans, the photographs of the sea bed and the photomosaics should remain confidential at this time.” Read Full Story