Odyssey Marine Exploration Welcomes Peru's Filing In "Black Swan" Case
Jack Linthicum
Didn't the Spanish expect the Peruvian claims?
Odyssey Marine Exploration Welcomes Peru's Filing In "Black Swan" Case
Last update: 9:35 a.m. EDT Aug. 20, 2008
TAMPA, Fla., Aug 20, 2008 - Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. the
world leader in the field of deep-ocean shipwreck exploration,
announced today 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.
Odyssey Marine Exploration, uses innovative methods and state-of-the-
art technology to conduct extensive deep-ocean search and
archaeological recovery operations around the world. Odyssey
discovered the Civil War era shipwreck of the SS Republic(R) in 2003
and recovered over 50,000 coins and 14,000 artifacts from the site
nearly 1,700 feet deep.
In May 2007, we announced the historic deep-ocean treasure recovery of
over 500,000 silver and gold coins, weighing 17 tons, from a Colonial
era site code-named "Black Swan." Odyssey has several shipwreck
projects in various stages of development around the world.
Odyssey offers various ways to share in the excitement of deep-ocean
exploration by making shipwreck treasures and artifacts available to
collectors, the general public and students through its webstore,
exhibits, books, television, merchandise, and educational programs.
JWM Productions is currently filming Odyssey expeditions for an 11-
part primetime series for Discovery Channel, which is scheduled to air
worldwide in 2009. Odyssey's "SHIPWRECK! Pirates & Treasure" exhibit
is currently on display at the Detroit Science Center, after being
showcased in Tampa at the Museum of Science & Industry and in New
Orleans.
For more detailed information on Odyssey, please visit www.shipwreck.net
or contact Natja Igney, Odyssey's Manager of Corporate Communications,
at 813-876-1776 x 2553.