Tampabay: Salvage firm to share in spoils of shipwreck

TAMPA -- A salvage company has struck a 20-year deal with Britain to search for riches in the sunken warship HMS Sussex, which went down in 1694 off Gibraltar in the Mediterranean Sea.

The Sussex might be the richest shipwreck ever, with experts estimating a treasure potentially worth $4-billion.

The contract allows Odyssey Marine Exploration to claim a share of the booty. International law considers the Sussex and its cargo the property of its home country because it was a warship.

The British Ministry of Defence said it chose Odyssey to excavate the 157-foot ship because of the company's regard for the ship's historical and cultural value.

Experts in marine salvage and history say the public-private agreement could be a new model for locating and salvaging shipwrecks, one that values archaeology and cultural value of wrecks as much as simple treasure hunting.

The project will start next year. Odyssey will spend three to six months exploring the wreck, which is a half-mile deep.

Odyssey is covering the initial costs, which could be more than $5-million. The company will sell harvested coins, and the British will help with the marketing.

Any proceeds between $45-million and $500-million will be split 50-50 between Britain and Odyssey. Above that, Britain will get 60 percent and Odyssey 40 percent.

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