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OMEX>>Odyssey Explorer and ZEUS Complete Sea Trials Successfully
Business Wire - October 02, 2003 09:15
TAMPA, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 2, 2003--Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. (OTCBB:OMEX), a leader in the field of deep ocean shipwreck exploration, has completed sea trials of the company's recently acquired ship and ROV system, the Odyssey Explorer and ZEUS. The vessel has returned to port to complete minor modifications and to load additional supplies to sustain the ship and crew for the planned extended stay offshore. The company anticipates that this work will be finished within approximately 48 hours, then the Odyssey Explorer will depart to begin operations on the shipwreck site believed to be SS Republic.

"The Odyssey Explorer and ZEUS are performing very well," stated Greg Stemm, Odyssey Co-founder and Director of Operations. "We have an excellent team that's been working very hard over the last few weeks to prepare the ship and ROV for operations on the Republic. We're very pleased with the performance of ZEUS and look forward to starting archaeological work on the site next week."

The Odyssey Explorer is a 251 foot Class II dynamically positioned (DP) ship and state-of-the-art deep ocean archaeological platform. The centerpiece of Odyssey's system is ZEUS, a seven ton, 205 horsepower remotely operated vehicle (ROV). ZEUS is rated to 2,500 meters (8,200 ft) and has two Schilling seven-function Conan Force-Feedback manipulators, which provide for exceptional dexterity and fine control of delicate archaeological procedures.

Additional sea-bottom site measurement and positioning technology, as well as archaeological recording and logging equipment have been integrated into the system to perform detailed archaeological excavation of the site.

The SS Republic was a sidewheel steamer that was lost in deep water in 1865 after battling a hurricane for two days. All the crew and passengers made it safely off the vessel, although a number of passengers eventually died on one of the rafts before they could be rescued.

Pictures from the sea trials of the Odyssey Explorer and ZEUS are available at http://www.shipwreck.net.

Odyssey Marine Exploration has several shipwreck projects in various stages of development throughout the world, including the Sussex and SS Republic projects. The company has signed an exclusive partnering agreement with the Government of the United Kingdom for the archaeological excavation of the British warship HMS Sussex. Operations on the Sussex are planned to begin following the excavation of the SS Republic.

Additional information about Odyssey, the SS Republic and HMS Sussex projects, ZEUS and the Odyssey Explorer is available at http://www.shipwreck.net.

The Company believes the information set forth in this Press Release may include "forward-looking statements." Certain factors that could cause results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements are set forth in "Risk Factors," and "Business" in the Company's annual report on Form 10KSB for the year ended February 28, 2003, which has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.


CONTACT: Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc., Tampa
Laura Barton, 813/244-7399 (Cell)
[e-mail]