Odyssey: Judge Rules in Favor of RLP in ‘SS Central America’ Case

Recovery Limited Partnership (RLP) has been granted a salvage award of 100% of the fair market value of the items recovered from the SS Central America excavation, conducted by Odyssey Marine Exploration in 2014.

In 2014, RLP contracted with Odyssey Marine Exploration to conduct the archaeological excavation and recover the remaining valuable cargo from the SS Central America shipwreck, which is located approximately 160 miles off the coast of South Carolina in 2,200 meters of water. Under the direction of a project archaeologist, the Odyssey team deployed a remotely operated vehicle, or ROV, to recover and document over 15,500 gold and silver coins, 45 gold bars and hundreds of other artifacts from the SS Central America shipwreck site.

Prior to any recovery work, a photomosaic of the site was created by digitally stitching together over 12,500 high-resolution images of the site. The 2014 SS Central American expedition was conducted over 129 days and included 83 ROV dives recording over 2,000 hours of dive time. The longest dive lasted over 125 hours. A 161,000-square-meter, high-resolution video survey of the shipwreck and surrounding seabed was also completed. During recovery operations, the Odyssey Explorer carried 17 ship crew members and a technical crew of up to 18 individuals and two highly experienced members of the Receiver’s oversight team.

Further, Chief Judge Rebecca Beach Smith of the United States District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, awarded title to RLP of all items recovered in order to satisfy the award, the disposition of which will occur under the auspices of Ira Owen Kane, the court-appointed Receiver, subject to approval by Judge Patrick Sheeran of the Court of Common Pleas, Franklin County, Ohio.

According to Odyssey, in her ruling, Judge Beach stated: “Together, the professionals at RLP and Odyssey spent an impressive amount of time, money, and energy in the 2014 salvage efforts.

The labor expended has been thorough and commendable at every stage, from the initial planning of the operations through post-salvage storage and conservation.”

“The judge reviewed an immense amount of data and information provided by RLP and Odyssey to reach her decision. We are pleased that the extensive archaeological work, care and conservation of the artifacts and noted professionalism of our deep-ocean marine operations team all contributed to her ruling in favor of RLP,” said Mark Gordon, Odyssey CEO and president. “Having the opportunity to work for RLP on this historic project, where we were not only able to recover valuable assets from the site but were also able to uncover extensive information about the formation of the site was an honor for our company.”