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OMEX news!! Ship's Bell Recovered by Odyssey Marine Exploration Positively Identifies SS Republic
Business Wire - October 14, 2003 11:44
TAMPA, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 14, 2003--Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. (OTCBB:OMEX), a leader in the field of deep ocean shipwreck exploration, has recovered a ship's bell that the company believes positively identifies the shipwreck that is currently being excavated in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Georgia.

The Project Archaeologist, Neil Cunningham Dobson, reported the recovery of the large bronze bell, which bears an inscribed ribbon with the letters "SSEE" clearly visible. The rest of the letters cannot be discerned until further conservation and cleaning. Ship's bells would typically carry the name of the foundry or the original name of the ship. The SS Republic was originally named SS TENNESSEE.

The company's vessel "Odyssey Explorer" and its work class remotely operated vehicle "ZEUS" have been at the Republic site since early October. The initial task of deploying the acoustic array has been accomplished and the preliminary site survey has been conducted. During this survey, the archaeologist spotted the ship's bell lying near the bow of the shipwreck and determined that its recovery would assist in confirming the name of the shipwreck.

"We are very pleased with the operation so far," stated Greg Stemm, Odyssey Co-founder and Director of Operations. "We have an excellent team that's been working very hard over the past month. Detailed exploration of the site has begun and we are simply amazed at the cornucopia of well-preserved artifacts lying down there."

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. The ship, en route from New York to New Orleans, was reportedly carrying a large cargo of gold specie.

Pictures of the bell, 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
[e-mail]





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