TAMPA, FL - December 15, 2005 - Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. (AMEX: OMR), a leader in the field of deep-ocean shipwreck exploration, today announced that on Monday, December 12, 2005, the Company began operations on the shipwreck site believed to be HMS Sussex.

The Company's 251' deep-ocean archaeological platform - the Odyssey Explorer - has returned to the western Mediterranean from the "Atlas" search area. The ship and crew have been conducting the initial phases of Odyssey's Sussex project plan previously approved by the Government of the United Kingdom. (An abridged version of the Sussex Project Plan is available at shipwreck.net/sussexpp.html .)

"We're pleased to be back in the western Mediterranean after our highly productive 'Atlas' search project. We've waited a long time to get started on this project, and we look forward to using the Sussex operation to prove the effectiveness of our technologies and techniques in deep ocean archaeology," said Greg Stemm, co-founder of Odyssey Marine Exploration. "We believe this project will serve as a model for private sector and government cooperation in the management of underwater cultural resources."

HMS Sussex was a large 80-gun English warship lost in a severe storm in the western Mediterranean in 1694. Research suggests that the Sussex was carrying a large cargo of coins when she sank. Odyssey believes it has located the shipwreck of HMS Sussex and has signed an exclusive partnering agreement with the Government of the United Kingdom for the archaeological excavation of the shipwreck.

Odyssey Marine Exploration is an American Stock Exchange Company (Ticker symbol: OMR) with several shipwreck projects in various stages of development throughout the world. Additional information about Odyssey, its projects and equipment, is available at shipwreck.net .