This agreement is the first time:

• any government has entered into an agreement with the Private Sector for the archaeological excavation of a sovereign warship.
  
  
• a private company has purposefully avoided the salvage court or receiver of the wreck in favor of negotiating an agreement for the archaeological excavation of a shipwreck
  
  
• since the adoption of the Rules of the UNESCO Convention for the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage that its archaeological principals have been utilized as a framework for an agreement with the private sector.
  
  
• a government agreement for an archaeological excavation recognizes a distinction between the archaeological significance of different classes of artifacts as a mechanism to allow sale of some artifacts to help fund management of underwater cultural heritage.
  
  
• a shipwreck agreement between the private sector and a government anticipates the long term sharing of the proceeds of intellectual property rights as well as the proceeds of an expensive marketing program
  
  
• a major archaeological excavation will take place at this depth using robotics.