Poseidon Group has been involved with many projects over the years both directly on site and as consultants. Our services have included
arranging the sale of artifacts, procurement of financing and equipment, marketing and general advisory services. We cannot mention
some ventures due to existing nondisclosure agreements but we include some information below.
Ecuador
Poseidon partnered with a local group in Ecuador where we located several wrecks. A fantastic set of Inca Cups found by a local fisherman came off one reef who sold them to us. This helped us identify the likely target there. We started operations on another Spanish ship that had already been partially salvaged a couple of years earlier. Hundreds of coins and other items were recovered and we
were excited about the future. Unfortunately the new government under Rafael Correa ceased all mining in the country. Shipwreck salvage fell under the control of the mining Ministry so it was also suspended.
We still possess all the information gathered at that time on several targets and may return to the country to complete them if an appropriate local partner can be found.
Indonesia
Indonesia is a collection of more than 17,000 islands incorporating a wide variety of cultural and religious traditions. Evidence of maritime trade dates back over 2000 years. Early merchants from China and Southeast Asia were followed by Indian and Middle Eastern traders. The 16th Century saw the Dutch take control of the region but other European Colonial powers also cruised the area. Indonesia has always been a strategically important location along the major trade routes and thousands of ships sunk in its waters. There have been quite a number of discoveries of very valuable shipwrecks in the past 20 years in Indonesia but there are dozens more documented shipwrecks waiting to be found and recovered. Indonesia recognizes the value of its maritime heritage and has passed a number of laws which encourage and attract commercial salvage companies to work here. Lucrative investment opportunities abound.
Poseidon Group partnered with Nautik Recovery Asia on several wreck sites in Indonesia. Nautik Recovery was founded by the late Klaus Keppler in 2007. We recovered two shipwrecks with them. The first was an unidentified Chinese wreck from the Five Dynasties Era dubbed the "Karawang Wreck" as it was found off the coast of this city. Over 6000 intact pieces of ceramics were recovered along with many other unique artifacts. The second wreck we recovered was the "H.M.S. Forbes" near
Belitung Island where we discovered many other wrecks. This wreck was a British privateer that had just recently plundered a Dutch vessel of a load of silver coins before sinking in quite shallow waters.
Survivors returned to the area to attempt salvage operations but could not find the wreck. We salvaged over 32000 silver coins, some jewelry, cannons, porcelain and many other items.
In addition to these wrecks, we located several more over the years which still lie there. We began operations on one Northern Dynasty wreck of huge value in 2016 but had to stop operations due to a
temporary moratorium on salvage. It is our intention to complete several more wrecks here in the future once the legal framework is restored.
International Waters
We are currently in the process of evaluating a few targets located in deep international waters. Shipwrecks located in international waters can be excellent projects as there is much less red tape involved in dealing with governments. There are a lot of shipwrecks sunk in deeper waters which have not been recovered. Locating them is quite easy with modern equipment. However, the much higher costs require intense due diligence before deciding whether to mobilize such an undertaking.
Information on our current projects is not available for the broad public. Prospective investors that meet our criteria can access it upon request.