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…)

TAMPA, Fla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Odyssey Marine Exploration (Nasdaq:OMEX), the world’s leader in the field of deep-ocean shipwreck exploration announced today that its Motion for a Protective Order which will govern discovery and evidence exchanged with Spain in the case of the three pending Admiralty Arrests was granted. U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Pizzo of the U.S. District Court’s Tampa Division, which has jurisdiction over the cases, agreed to enter the Protective Order as presented by Odyssey with some clarifications requested by Spain. He had previously indicated that Spain would have to agree to a Protective Order before site information was released to them.

At a pretrial conference on Thursday, the Court underscored the importance of protecting the site and avoiding any release of confidential information. In the spirit of cooperation in protecting the site, Odyssey volunteered to provide to Spain the precise locations of the sites rather than a general area, as originally requested by Spain.

Within 14 days of the issuance of the Protective Order, in addition to the locations, Odyssey will provide Spain information about all three sites including photomosaics of the sites and information about artifacts recovered to date. Odyssey also agreed to provide Spain’s experts access to the artifacts recovered from the sites. (more…)