Who hasn’t dreamt of being a treasure hunter? Everyone, at some time in their life, has imagined finding that wooden chest filled with golden coins, strings of pearls and priceless gems. But for Wulf Blum, president and CEO of Deep Blue Marine (Pink Sheets: DPBM), it’s not so much a dream as a dream come true.
Blum, who has headed the Deep Blue Marine company for the past two years, has made a productive business out of the salvage and recovery of shipwrecks and other sunken objects – and, of course, forgotten seagoing relics from the 1600s and 1700s.
“We’ve done a bunch of work for the government,” Blum said. “We’ve pulled up three boats, four cranes, and two airplanes. On ancient wrecks, we’re just in the process [of recovering some.] We’ve got one from the mid 1670s, and one possible one from the 1750s. And then we’ve got one from the late 1700s, and we’re waiting for the permits to pull it up.”
Because of the stringent salvage and recovery statutes regarding shipwrecks, the life of a commercial salvager can be a difficult one – even if you discover a wreck, you need to make a claim on the wreck before recovery operations can begin, a process that could take years and has no guarantee of succeeding. Luckily, Blum’s found an ingenious way around that.
“We take existing contracts or permits, and we develop those permits,” Blum said. “If I went out today … and found a wreck in Florida waters, it would probably take me five years to get a permit because of all the bureaucracy. So what we do is take old permits that have been around since the 70s… then we bring in our crews and develop the work site.”
As can be expected for any industry that revolves around the recovery of old shipwrecks, the professional salvage business can be extremely lucrative.
“We’ve recovered cannonballs, muskets, we’ve recovered small amounts of gold … we’ve got an anchor, we’ve got 2,500 individual sonar hits that look like cannons,” Blum continued. “We’ve got two areas that look that are very, very prolific with gold and silver.”
Blum went on to describe some of the amazing treasures that have been recovered through professional salvage operations – like a gold bishop’s cross valued at over $6 million, a gold chain two hundred feet long, several hundred emeralds, and 28 pieces of extremely rare cut crystal from the 1600s that could only be valued as ‘priceless.’ Even less glorious objects like old cannonballs, swords, and other relics can fetch incredibly high prices at an auction – not to mention the ship itself.
“On an older wreck, the payroll value on that boat alone can be worth $51 million,” Blum said. “And that’s not counting cannonballs, cannons, swords, glass crystal, pots and porcelain.”
Of course, there’s more to salvaging than just booty. There’s also the recovery and preservation of ancient relics, with a historical value far greater than any monetary number.
Naturally, Blum’s done pretty well for himself so far. The cost overhead for the business is relatively low, meaning he’s guaranteed to make a profit off any wrecks or relics he recovers, even after sending 50 percent to either the local government or the title holder.
“This is only our second year as a public company. Our boats are paid for, so financially we’re in pretty good shape,” Blum said. “We can do pretty well.”
While the company hasn’t recovered a lot of silver and gold so far – just one or two coins of each – they expect a major find soon. In fact, they’re counting on it. Although the company will sell any historical artifacts they find, they intend to keep the gold and silver they recover; “so that way we’re the only pinksheet in the world who’s stock is backed by gold and silver,” Blum said.
And the good news doesn’t stop there. Blum and the rest of Deep Blue Marine really do prize their shareholders – so much so that they’ll allow shareholders to dive with them, provided the shareholder is a certified diver and passes a brief diving test. While few companies can claim to searching for buried treasure, even fewer let their shareholders in on the action.
It goes without saying that Blum’s ecstatic about his profession.
“It’s like no other company in the world,” Blum said with a smile in his voice.
Stocks for Deep Blue Marine went down slightly after opening today, dropping to 2 cents a share by mid-afternoon. For more information, visit the company’s Web site at www.alldeepblue.com.
