Odyssey Marine Exploration, a pioneer in the fields of deep-ocean shipwreck and offshore mineral exploration, is funding further exploration and recovery activity.

The company has sold 15 per cent of Oceanica Resources, S de R L, a newly-organised subsidiary engaged in seafloor mineral exploration, for $15 million to Mako Resources, LLC, an independent investment group.

Odyssey who use Falmouth as a base port for their ship Odyssey Explorer, is planning to continue the silver bullion recoveries from the Gairsoppa and Mantola, which are scheduled to resume in May of this year. The company recently executed a charter agreement to again secure the specialist offshore vessel Seabed Worker as the proven operating platform for these recoveries.

Silver bullion weighing 17,000 ounces was landed at the docks from the Seabed Worker last summer along with other artefacts removed from the Gairsoppa. Torpedoed in 1941, Gairsoppa lies three miles down on the seabed of the Atlantic some 300 miles south west of Ireland.

During last year’s salvage operations at the Gairsoppa wreck-site, a total of 1,218 silver ingots were recovered. They are expected to yield approximately $44 million at current silver prices.

Mantola was located approximately 100 miles from the Gairsoppa in a depth of 2,500 metres. Outward bound from London to Calcutta with general cargo and shipment of silver she was torpedoed by a U-boat on February 8 1917. Based on 1917 silver values Odyssey has calculated that this would equate to 600,000 ounces of silver.