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

U.S. Federal Judge Holds That Odyssey’s Pleadings Meet Rules of Procedure In Three Shipwreck Cases

TAMPA, Fla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. (Nasdaq:OMEX) today announced that on March 6, 2008, Judge Steven D. Merryday issued an Order relating to Spain’s Motions to Dismiss the Amended Complaints that were filed by Odyssey in the arrest of three wreck sites.

Odyssey is pleased with the ruling of the judge in the cases of the three arrested sites which specifically states that “the allegations in the complaint and the disclosure in connection with discovery satisfy the requirements of applicable procedural rules and pleading principles.”

“This makes it clear that the first phase of these cases is complete and we can get beyond Spain’s invalid arguments that Odyssey has not pled its case adequately. This means we can move forward to determine what basis, if any, Spain has for the claims it has made to these wreck sites,” said Greg Stemm, Odyssey’s Chief Executive Officer.

The Court’s Order makes it clear that if Odyssey promptly complies with the disclosure rulings of the Magistrate Judge in a satisfactory manner, the Company is not required to disclose any hypotheses as to the identities of the vessels. (more…)

Odyssey Marine Exploration Named Sole Custodian for Shipwreck Site

TAMPA, Fla. — Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. (Nasdaq:OMEX) has been named the sole plaintiff in the in rem Admiralty case number 4:05-CV-122-D3 pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina after a U.S. District Judge granted the Joint Motion from Odyssey Marine Exploration and BDJ Discovery Group, LLC for “Substitution of Plaintiff.”

In 2005, BDJ Discovery Group filed the original arrest action against the Unidentified Shipwreck Vessel, its apparel, tackle, appurtenances and cargo located in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean approximately 12 miles off the coast of North Carolina.

BDJ Discovery Group, the company that originally discovered evidence of the site, brought the project to Odyssey in 2007 and an agreement was reached for Odyssey to take over all aspects of the project. BDJ has assigned all of its rights to the artifacts and any wreck from which they originate to Odyssey in return for up to 15% of any proceeds from artifact sales after archaeological excavation, conservation, marketing and certain other expenses.

“As other groups assess the real costs and challenges of shipwreck projects, including archaeological recovery, conservation, legal and marketing expenses, we’re being called more often on projects like these,” commented Greg Stemm, Odyssey CEO. “We have the experience, technical expertise and infrastructure required to effectively handle all aspects of virtually any shipwreck project that comes our way.” (more…)