Seahawk Announces Bahamas Shipwreck Recovery Project.

TAMPA, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 11, 1997--Seahawk Deep Ocean Technology, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: SDOT), the Tampa-based oceangraphic company that specializes in the search and recovery of deep water shipwrecks, announced today that it has entered into a joint venture with Spanish Main Treasure Company of Tavernier, Florida, to conduct search and recovery operations in the Bahama Islands. Spanish Main Treasure Company has secured a permit from the Bahamian government with exclusive rights until August 1998, to search a six and one half by four mile area of the Bahama Islands. Under the terms of the joint venture, Seahawk is entitled to 85% of the gross value of any salvaged artifacts, after the entitlement of the Bahamian Authorities. Seahawk also has exclusive responsibility for the financing and running of the project including all shipboard and underwater operations.

The center of the search zone is Hogsty Reef, a three by five mile horseshoe shaped reef lying only a few feet beneath the surface along the northeastern margin of the Bahama Channel. Captain Carl Fismer, President of Spanish Main Treasure Company, has assembled a substantial dossier on shipwrecks of the Hogsty, including information from such eminent researchers as Dr. Eugene Lyon and Patrick Lize. Over the past three years, Fismer has been working the waters around the reef, documenting the specific locations of interesting shipwrecks. John Balch, Chief Operating Officer of Seahawk said "More than 25 wreck sites have so far been identified on Hogsty Reef. This makes this project one of Seahawk's most exciting opportunities and we are keen to start working with Captain Fismer before this month is out."

The reef, known to early Spanish sailors as "Dragon's Teeth" due to its shape and danger of the area, appears on early European maps. Christopher Columbus includes the area in a 1492-93 drawing and it is also on a world map prepared by Juan de la Cosa in 1500. Owing to the favorable currents, the Bahama Channel was a popular early shipping route despite the frequent hurricanes recorded in the area. Hogsty reef lies about midway between Great Inagua and Crooked Island, roughly l00 miles north of the island of Hispaniola. Two small spits of sand break the surface in an area surrounded by water as deep as 6,000 feet in places.

Seahawk has searched for and found a number of shipwrecks since it was formed in 1989. In addition to the Bahamas, the Company is involved in a variety of shipwreck projects around the world. Seahawk is also a member of a consortium in South America which is searching for a valuable shipwreck in waters off Brazil and is seeking a permit to search waters off an island in the Azores which, according to the Company's researcher Robert Marx, contain a large number of valuable colonial shipwrecks.

CONTACT: Seahawk Deep Ocean Technology, Inc.

John Lawrence, CEO, 813/832-4040