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Nemo, Underwater ROV Recovery Vehicle of the SS Central America Gold & Artifacts [158990]

Currency:USD Category:Artifacts / Shipwreck Artifacts Start Price:10,000.00 USD Estimated At:20,000.00 - 150,000.00 USD
Nemo, Underwater ROV Recovery Vehicle of the SS Central America Gold & Artifacts [158990]
SOLD
36,000.00USDto Q*b+ buyer's premium (7,200.00)
This item SOLD at 2023 Mar 05 @ 17:43UTC-8 : PST/AKDT
SHIPPING & HANDLING: The customer is responsible for all shipping and packaging charges. We offer shipping service as a convenience to our buyers. Items are not shipped until the invoice and shipping charges are completely paid. Shipping costs will be calculated and billed separately after your items have been paid for. Purchases will be shipped via our approved, insured carriers: FedEx, UPS, USPS or DHL. Pick up is available from our Reno office, once you have received your invoice post auction
Nemo is the underwater, remotely operated vehicle (ROV) invented and built by a team of engineers with the expressed purpose of recovering the gold from the S.S. Central America shipwreck. Nemo was named in honor of the great fictional ship captain imagined by author Jules Verne. The name itself means "no man" which is fitting for an unmanned ROV. It was first launched as a prototype in 1987 and continually refined as recovery of gold coins, ingots, and artifacts progressed through the 1991 season. Nemo weighs in at 11,500 pounds when fully operational, now about 8,500 pounds. It has not been in operation since 1991. While it has been in enclosed storage since that time, it is not presently in operable condition. It is, in fact, a remarkable and historic scientific invention that predates any other underwater ship recovery by private parties (government excluded). Nemo is outfitted with stereo cameras for three-dimensional depth perception in 7,200 feet of water. It was attached to the "mothership" at the surface by cables, and was completely computer controlled. Transit time between the surface and the shipwreck was roughly two hours in each direction. Once at the site, Nemo could be towed just above the seafloor for video reconnaissance, or it could rest on the bottom for recovery of objects. The longest dive was 75 hours on the bottom! This machine recovered what is believed to be the entire contents of the "gold room" -- worth more than $3.1 million in 1857 dollars. It also recovered the majority of artifacts in this sale. The remainder of the artifacts in the sale were recovered in 2014, when Odyssey was hired to return to the site to complete the gold recovery. The recovery operations came to a halt when the last dive netted about ten gold coins, and it appeared that the group had found the majority of reasonably accessible gold. Many more historical artifacts other than gold remain at the shipwreck site.
Nemo is presently stored in Dayton, Nevada. It comes with about two file cabinets of ancillary tools and parts which are stored in Columbus, Ohio. The successful buyer will note these items are FOB current location.

Provenance: SS Central America Collection