The 3rd quarter report contained an update to the 'Admiralty Legal Proceedings' which is getting pretty complex. The report summed it up as follows:
Admiralty Legal Proceedings
On April 9, 2007, Odyssey filed Admiralty arrests in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida on two sites, one in the Atlantic Ocean and one in the western Mediterranean Sea. The Company has now arrested three sites (the first of which was arrested on September 13, 2006) that require more extensive ROV operations.
On May 30 and 31, 2007, the Kingdom of Spain filed notices in all three pending court cases in which we have filed Warrants of Arrest stating that the Spanish government does not intend to give up rights on any Spanish property which might be on the sites. Spain has not asserted a basis for any claims specific to any of the arrests.
On June 15 and 19, 2007, Spain filed Motions for More Definite Statements in these three admiralty arrests requesting additional information.
On August 6, 2007, we filed our responses including Amended Verified Complaints adding the Kingdom of Spain as a defendant in all three Admiralty cases, seeking damages for losses sustained through Spain's recent actions obstructing Odyssey's ability to conduct operations. Odyssey is seeking not only relief in the form of a set-off of any potential award Spain may ultimately receive, but also affirmative relief for damages caused by Spain's interference with Odyssey's rights to all three arrested sites. In addition to the Amended Complaints, we also filed Motions for Protective Order in all three cases to protect the confidentiality of the Preliminary Site Assessments, which include detailed information about the archaeological and exploration activities at the sites to date, and filed Motions for Preliminary Injunction in two of the cases.
On September 19, 2007, Spain filed Motions to Dismiss the Amended Complaints and Oppositions to the Motions for Orders Granting Preliminary Injunctions and Protective Orders. Odyssey filed its Response to the Motions to Dismiss and Replies to Spain's Oppositions to the Motions for Protective Orders and Preliminary Injunctions on October 22, 2007.
On October 30, 2007, the parties filed Joint Case Management Reports. Those reports indicated Spain's opposition to complying with the Federal Rules of Discovery. They also provided a general guideline for the timing of discovery and trials and requested hearings before the court to resolve disputed issues. The parties will appear before the court on November 26, 2007 for Preliminary Pretrial Conferences in all arrest cases. We continue to pursue a prompt resolution to these claims. If we are able to confirm that any entity has a potential legitimate legal claim to any of the materials recovered from these sites, when-and if-the identity is confirmed, we intend to provide legal notice to any and all potential claimants. Even if another entity is able to prove that it has an ownership interest in the shipwreck and/or cargo and that they had not legally abandoned the shipwreck, Odyssey would apply for a salvage award from the Admiralty Court. In cases such as this, salvors are typically awarded up to 90% of the recovery. We do believe that most shipwrecks that we recover, including the "Black Swan," will likely result in claims by other parties. Many of these may be spurious claims, but we anticipate that there might be some legitimate ones as well. In the case of the "Black Swan," it is the opinion of our legal counsel that even if a claim by another party is deemed to be legitimate by the courts, Odyssey should still receive a significant salvage award for its recovery.
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The next important date is 11/26/07, which is the date of the hearing. Also, there should be answers to the court interrogatories on 11/11/07 by Odyssey and on 11/21/07 by Spain (see previous post: 'Order Scheduling Pretrial Conference').