Skip to comments.

Volvos treasure hunt finds real-life pirate treasure worth $500 million

Posted on by TigerLikesRooster

Volvos treasure hunt finds real-life pirate treasure worth $500 million

Posted on: June 22nd, 2007

Filed under: Industry News, Volvo

Remember Volvos Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End treasure hunt? The Volvo treasure chest is filled with $50,000 in gold and a key to a new Volvo from the sea floor. Well the retrival of that chest will hang in the balance until controversy dies down over the discovery of real life treasure by Volvos Hunt partner, Odyssey Marine Exploration.

Earlier this year, Volvo selected Odyssey to sink a treasure chest in the Western Mediterranean. They had planned to take the winner of the hunt, 23-year-old Alena Zvereva from Ekaterinburg, Russia, out to retrieve the treasure from its secret location. What they found was the discovery of an estimated $500 million in coins from a deep ocean site that the company has now code-named the Black Swan.

As soon as the discovery was made public, Odyssey found itself in the eye of a media storm. Reports have circulated that a court in the Spanish coastal town of La Linea has issued an order for the Spanish Guardia Civil to hold any Odyssey vessel if it leaves the port of Gibraltar, putting Volvos retrieval plans on hold.

Whatever happens, Zvereva will receive $50,000 and a new Volvo XC70. Volvo, however, is not giving up on its retrieval plans yet and is committed to exploring every avenue possible to reclaim the chest from its watery depths.

Click through for the press release from Volvo.

Press Release:

REAL-LIFE PIRATE ADVENTURE DELAYS VOLVO TREASURE RETRIEVAL

Controversy Sparked by $500 Million Real-Life Treasure Find Adds New Mystery and Intrigue to Final Leg of Volvos Online Hunt

(IRVINE, Calif.) June 22, 2007-In a twist worthy of any great pirate story, Volvo Car Corporation today upped anchorat least temporarilyon the last crucial leg of its global online treasure hunt: the retrieval of a prize treasure chest filled with $50,000 in gold and a key to a new Volvo from the sea floor. The retrieval of the chest will hang in the balance until controversy dies down over the discovery of real life treasure by Volvos Hunt partner, Odyssey Marine Exploration.

Earlier this year, Volvo selected Odyssey, the world leader in deep-ocean shipwreck exploration, to sink a treasure chest with one goal: to create an authentic, exciting treasure hunt to promote Disneys Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End. Veiled in secrecy, Odyssey scouted locations in the Western Mediterranean, finally zeroing in on a perfect spot off the coast of Gibraltar. They had planned to take the winner of The Hunt, 23-year-old Alena Zvereva from Ekaterinburg, Russia, out to retrieve the treasure from its secret location when the operation hit an unprecedented snag: Odyssey found real treasure. And a media storm ensued.

We thought sinking a real treasure chest, filled with $50,000 in gold doubloons and a key to a new Volvo, and creating a global treasure hunt for 22 markets was challenging, said Linda Gangeri, national advertising manager, Volvo Cars of North America. But that was, quite literally, a drop in the ocean compared to the storm our attempted retrieval process has stirred up.

While thousands of would-be treasure hunters from around the globe battled it out to find Volvos prize booty, Odyssey struck gold and silver of their own in the Atlantic Ocean with the discovery of an estimated $500 million in coins from a deep ocean site the company has now code-named the Black Swan.

As soon as the discovery was made public, having been spotted depositing Volvos treasure in an entirely different area, questions started circulating as to the real provenance of the Black Swan. Was it a Spanish shipwreck? Had Odyssey been working on shipwrecks in Spanish waters? Unable to reveal the exact location of the Black Swan, in the Atlantic Ocean because of obvious security reasons, and under a non-disclosure agreement with Volvo to protect the location of its treasure chest, Odyssey found itself in the eye of a media storm that has yet to abate. Reports have been widely circulated that a court in the Spanish coastal town of La Linea has issued an order for the Spanish Guardia Civil to detain any Odyssey vessel should it leave the port of Gibraltar, putting Volvos retrieval plans on hold.

When we discovered the Black Swan, international interest in the find was amazing, said Greg Stemm, real-life shipwreck explorer and co-founder of Odyssey. Even though we have been very clear that its in the Atlantic Ocean, outside any countrys territorial waters, when Spanish authorities saw that wed been out near Gibraltar in March, some unfortunately jumped to the wrong conclusion. Until very recently, we were contractually bound not to reveal our arrangement with Volvo, so without a real explanation of why we had deep-sea exploration equipment out there, its easy to see how imaginations could run wild.

Whatever happens, Zvereva will receive $50,000 and a new Volvo XC70. Volvo, however, is not giving up on its retrieval plans yet and is committed to exploring every avenue possible to reclaim the chest from its watery depths.

We wanted an adventure, and we certainly got one, said Gangeri. Real-life shipwreck exploration is uncharted waters for us, and Odyssey did warn us that you never know what will happen out on the high seas. They have been an excellent partner throughout all this, and they helped make this contest one of the most authentic, exciting promotions of the year. Now, pirate story or not, were putting everything we have toward raising a thrillingand happyending.

About the Hunt The wildly popular Hunt, a month-long multi-media campaign developed as part of Volvos promotion of the theatrical release of Disneys Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End, attracted more than 32,000 online contestants from 22 markets around the world. Participants solved a series of puzzles that led to a semi-final puzzle, Puzzle 21: Worlds End, posted May 31. The first contestant from each country to submit the correct answer then went on to compete in one final online puzzle to decide the winner. All participating markets were represented in the final with the exception of Italy, who didnt have a participant submit a correct semi-final answer within the time limit.



TOPICS:

Business/Economy

Extended News

Foreign Affairs

News/Current Events

KEYWORDS:

500million

godsgravesglyphs

shipwreck

spanishempire

tlr

treasure

treasurehunt

volvo





To: SunkenCiv; blam

Ping!



by 2 posted onby TigerLikesRooster (kim jong-il, chia head, ppogri, In Grim Reaper we trust)

To: TigerLikesRooster

Wow, neat!



To: TigerLikesRooster

I don’t believe this



To: TigerLikesRooster

All participating markets were represented in the final with the exception of Italy, who didnt have a participant submit a correct semi-final answer within the time limit.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Viva Italia! The only nation with the smarts to keep away from this junk marketing scheme.



To: dennisw

"I dont believe this" It's true: Odyssey Marine secretly transports 500 million dollars worth in silver on US aircraft



by 6 posted onby blam (Secure the border and enforce the law)

To: dennisw

Well they did say it was a good spot to hide treasure.. ;) You can’t make this stuff up...



To: TigerLikesRooster

arghhh! :D....REM: SEPT. 19



by 8 posted onby skinkinthegrass ( just b/c, you suffer from paranoia, doesn't mean they're not out to get you....Run, Fred, Run :^)

To: blam

Odyssey made a big discovery all right. I just doubt it was due to the sheer luck of dropping a pirate’s treasure chest right next to it



To: TigerLikesRooster

I have to wonder if a “Volvo from the sea floor” would be any more reliable than a land-based one.



To: TigerLikesRooster; blam; FairOpinion; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; ...

by 11 posted onby SunkenCiv (Time heals all wounds, particularly when they're not yours. Profile updated June 28, 2007.)

To: SunkenCiv

bah, I found three of ‘em just last week. nothing to see here, move along... :)



by 12 posted onby Andonius_99 (There are two sides to every issue. One is right, the other is wrong; but the middle is always evil.)

To: Andonius_99

:’) And I’ve found (or rather, been pinged to) three such topics... Shipwreck yields historic riches — $500M worth

AP via cnn.com | 05/18/2007 | Staff

Posted on 05/18/2007 10:23:38 AM EDT by Red Badger

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1835741/posts Spain probing if sunken treasure taken illegally

Reuters | 05/21/07 | Ben Harding

Posted on 05/21/2007 7:32:22 PM EDT by nypokerface

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1837450/posts



by 13 posted onby SunkenCiv (Time heals all wounds, particularly when they're not yours. Profile updated June 28, 2007.)

To: SunkenCiv

I wonder if the Volvo comes with the save the sea turtles, Kerry Edwards, and I hate Bush, bumper stickers already attached.



To: TigerLikesRooster

a court in the Spanish coastal town of La Linea has issued an order for the Spanish Guardia Civil to hold any Odyssey vessel if it leaves the port of Gibraltar LOL, and one can guess who the pirate is in this story...



by 15 posted onby coconutt2000 (NO MORE PEACE FOR OIL!!! DOWN WITH TYRANTS, TERRORISTS, AND TIMIDCRATS!!!! (3-T's For World Peace))

To: dennisw

yeah at the very least they combined the volvo job with their own investigations in the area. possibly there was more to it than that, given the spain problem.



Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

FreeRepublic , LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794

FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson