 Odyssey said that due to the location of the ship in an area known to contain a large number of colonial-era wrecks, the identity of the ship would not be disclosed pending further examination of the coins and artifacts.It was also thought the treasure might be from a ship that Odyssey had petitioned a federal court for permission to salvage, which was located off the southwest coast of the United Kingdom, within a five-mile (8 km) radius of .Mike Johnson initially speculated that the treasure might be from the wreck of the English merchant ship "Merchant Royal", which sank on 23 September 1641 whilst returning to London.