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TAMPA — Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc. (symbol: OMEX) located the shipwreck site of the SS Gairsoppa, a former British cargo ship that may have seven million ounces of silver on board.
According to official government documents, a German U-boat torpedoed the Gairsoppa in 1941, sinking the ship and sending it to the bottom of the Atlantic roughly 300 miles off the coast of Ireland in international waters. At that time, the Gairsoppa's silver cargo was estimated to be worth 600,000 British pounds.
In 2010, Odyssey won an exclusive salvage contract from the United Kingdom's Department of Transportation. As per that agreement, Odyssey will retain 80% of the net salved value recovered from the shipwreck, a release explains.
While the price of silver is highly volatile, the precious metal's cumulative average price in 2010 was $20.19 per ounce, according to Kitco, a Canadian company that tracks commodity prices.
Despite generating $6.7 million in revenues, Odyssey Marine Exploration posted a $1.9 million net loss in the second quarter of 2011. Its most recent shipwreck discovery could enact a significant swing in its full-year profitability picture.
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