THE SPANISH 70 GUN Galleon pictured above was very similar to the Concepcion. Only seven of seven hundred passengers survived her loss.
CONCEPCION PROJECT


OVERVIEW:
An operation to locate, identify, recover, conserve and market the cargo of the "Concepcion", our code name for a shipwreck that sank during the early eighteenth century. Our value estimates for the "Concepcion" range from a gold bullion value of approximately $35 million to a potential numismatic and collector's value of well over $100 million.

Note: The ultimate value of the cargo to the company could be either more or less than the numismatic value, and will depend on the method in which it is marketed, the share of other claimants if any, the cost of financing and many potential factors outside the control of the company. There will always be the risk that the cargo could be impossible to find, non-existent, or of minimal value.

STATUS:
The offshore search operation began in October 1996. To date, over 400 square miles have been surveyed with side scan sonar and ROV inspections have been conducted on approximately 20 sites. Due to conditions observed with the ROV, a magnetometer survey was commenced on these sites during January 1998. We postponed work on the site in 1998 due to uncertainty over proposed changes in shipwreck laws in the country where we were working. We believe the current situation in that country will allow operations to resume in a joint venture with domestic partners.

"The Gold from the Concepcion was carried in six chests of gold and one half full. Each chest contained at least 600,000 Pesos for a total in the area of 4,000,000 Pesos…the English, Dutch, Hamburgers and the Italians were upset as they all had interests, as well as the French, in the loss."
Source: CP 61/Folio 335


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© Copyright, 1998 - 2004, Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc., Tampa, FL
33679-2057, USA - All Rights Reserved
* Names of shipwrecks, dates and other information may have been changed for security purposes. The values estimated for this project may have used assumptions based on research that could prove to be erroneous. It is also possible that research into the potential value could be incomplete or not have taken into account prior sales of similar cargoes or artifacts which are deemed to have been marketed poorly, or not sold with certification that the artifacts came from a properly supervised archaeological excavation. The net value of the expedition to Odyssey may prove to be significantly less than the estimates given here as a result of operational expenses, percentages to governments, and inability to completely salvage a site. As enunciated in Risk Factors, there may be nothing of value whatsoever recovered from this project.