“The city continues to be deeply excited in regard to the loss of the CentralAmerica,” a reporter for the New York Times wrote in September 1857 about the sinking several weeks earlier of the 28' side wheel steamer. “Every incident connected with the sad catastrophe is read with eager interest, and the utmost anxiety prevails to discover the cause of so remarkable and unprecedented a disaster,” the Times said.
The cause, of course, would soon be made clear: a Category 2 hurricane with winds well in excess of 100 miles per hour that overwhelmed the ship off the coast of the Carolinas.
Now, more than a century and a half later, a reconnaissance dive organized by Tampa, Fla.-based Odyssey Marine Exploration has recovered nearly 1,000 ounces of gold that went down with the Central America, prompting alarm as far away as Wall Street.
The two-hour dive was conducted during the UK to South Carolina transit of the Odyssey Explorer, an Odyssey Marine vessel, which saw the company’s remotely operated vehicle, or robot, dropped deep into the Atlantic Ocean and emerge with five gold bars worth more than $1.2 million.
Odyssey Marine is taking on the recovery operation by contract with a receiver representing the Ohio-based Recovery Limited Partnership. In a statement, Craig Mullen, the director of operations for RLP, had nothing but praise for Odyssey Marine’s Central America work thus far.
“The skill exhibited and results achieved during the initial reconnaissance dive reinforces our belief that the Odyssey team was the absolutely best choice for this project,” Mullen added.
This is not the first time that recovery experts have visited the sunken Central America. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Thomas Thompson, an Ohio engineer and salvager, recovered what would turn out to be some $40 million in gold from the ship.
Although Thompson subsequently sold much of his find for a reported $52 million, dozens of investors never saw a penny from the operation. A judge eventually ordered Thompson’s arrest after he failed to appear in federal court in 2012.
Now Odyssey Marine hopes to recover the estimated 95 percent of the shipwreck that was never touched by Thompson.
Calling it an honor to conduct what he calls the “continued exploration” of the Central America, Mark Gordon said in a statement that the Odyssey Marine team “is already out on the site doing the pre-disturbance work and will next start the archaeological excavation.”
Gordon, the president and chief operation officer of Odyssey, added: “There is still an incredible amount of scientific and archaeological knowledge that we will document from this deep water site, and we’re looking forward to sharing the results of our work.”
If all goes according to plans, Odyssey Marine, on behalf of the Recovery Limited Partnership, hopes to conduct most or all of its recovery work this summer. For that effort, Odyssey will net 80 percent of all the recovery proceeds. That figure will be reduced to 45 percent once a negotiated day rate and fixed mobilization rate is paid.
