Ocean Treasure Hunting

Ocean treasure hunting involves finding valuable shipwrecks and recovering their cargo through a structured process, with potential for billion-dollar discoveries and profit-sharing agreements with source governments.

Key Points:

• Scale of Opportunity:

  • Hundreds of wrecks potentially have more than a billion dollars worth of cargo (gold bullion from Spanish conquests)
  • Thousands more wrecks likely contain millions of dollars in valuables
  • Source governments (Spanish, Portuguese) still maintain legal claims on these treasures

• Business Model:

  • Negotiate profit-sharing agreements with source governments
  • Return artifacts and historical items to the governments
  • Keep a percentage of the recovered treasure as payment

• Mission Structure:

  1. Pre-Mission Phase:
     • Research historical records to locate potential wrecks
     • Scope out the site
     • Secure permissions and legal agreements for recovery rights
  2. Scouting Phase:
     • On-site exploration using sonar technology
     • Scan and map the seabed to understand what's there
  3. Recovery Phase:
     • Deploy remote operated vehicles (ROVs) to excavate the site
     • Bring recovered items to the surface
     • Celebrate the successful recovery

• Current Status:

  • Some people are actively working on treasure hunting ventures (not publicly disclosed)
  • "Exciting developments" happening in the space