MIAMI, (Business Wire).- Marine Exploration, Inc. announced today that the Dominican Republic has extended the Company’s "in-country" contract for another 2 years.

Further, the contract expands the contracted search area into waters that are of high interest to Marine Exploration.

Marine Exploration’s President, Paul Enright states, "We are pleased with the vote of confidence the Dominican Republic has cast for us by extending our contract for another 2 years. With the addition of new search areas, we expect our chances of finding treasure-bearing shipwrecks to rise significantly."

Marine Exploration, Inc., and joint venture partner Hispaniola Ventures, LLC headed by Burt Webber, expect to continue the surveys and anticipate locating and recovering historic shipwrecks with valuable artifacts and treasure.

Working under exclusive contract with the Dominican Republic, the Company has plans in place to pursue multiple notable shipwrecks in Dominican Republic territorial and jurisdictional waters.

Dominican official provides details on the contract

As the Dominican Government’s participation in the recovery effort, Sub-aquatic Cultural Patrimony director Pedro Borrell said that type of contract have been signed since 1978.

“In the same Silver Banks (Banco de la Plata) this gentleman Mr. Webber located the remains of the ship Concepcion in 1978, of which he recovered a large amount of pieces and 65,000 of silver coins,” the official said in March last year.

Borrel added that at that time the Government decided to keep 100 percent of the pieces and made up the difference in coins. “The only thing the treasure hunger could take was the coins.”