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Odyssey Loses $6.5M But Sees Calm Seas Ahead

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By RUSSELL RAY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 11, 2008

TAMPA - Odyssey Marine Exploration, the company that recovered a sunken treasure worth an estimated $500 million from the Atlantic Ocean last year, said late Monday it lost $6.5 million, or 13 cents a share, in the third quarter.

The treasure won't be reflected in Odyssey's financial results until ownership of the loot — 17 tons of colonial-era coins — is determined by a federal court in Tampa. Odyssey could be ordered to return the coins to Spain, which has claimed ownership of the entire haul.

Executives attributed the loss to fewer coin sales and $6.1 million in operating and research expenses related to the search and development of several sunken shipwrecks.

Last week, Odyssey said it found two more shipwrecks near the English Channel and that both are "beyond the territorial waters" of any nation.

"All in all, we are in great shape as we move into the final quarter of 2008," said Odyssey CEO Greg Stemm.

Despite the quarterly loss, revenue rose 69 percent to $2.2 million compared with the same quarter last year.

The increase in revenue stems from a $1.4 million payment from the Discovery Channel, which plans to broadcast 11 episodes about Odyssey's deep-sea adventures beginning early next year.

For more than a year, Odyssey has been tangling with Spain in a legal battle over ownership and salvage rights to what may be the largest treasure ever recovered from the sea.

In court documents, the Spanish government claims the coins were the cargo of a Spanish warship known as the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes and are immune from any claim or arrest in the United States. Under international law, nations are granted sovereign immunity over sunken warships.

Odyssey will file its response to Spain's claim next week in U.S. District Court in Tampa.

The company has repeatedly said there are no signs or evidence of a shipwreck at the site where the coins and artifacts were recovered. But in court documents, Odyssey said the loot most likely was the cargo of the Mercedes.

Reporter Russell Ray can be reached at (813) 259-7870.

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