Hargitt Marine Services | Shark Tank Season 5

Sea buccaneer Mark Hargitt came to the sharks seeking an investment, that would help him bring up a treasure from the wreckage of a century old ship. Will he secure a deal on Shark Tank Season 5? Find out in our Hargitt Marine Services update!

Shark Tank Hargitt Marine Services Update

Hargitt Marine Services Update

  • Entrepreneurs: Mark Hargitt
  • Business: Treasure hunter
  • Ask: $250,000 in exchange for 25% equity
  • Result: No deal
  • Sharks: None

Mark started his company, Hargitt Marine Services, when he secured the mineral rights to the S.S. Mariposa, a ship that hit a reef and sank off the Alaskan coast in 1917. All 265 passengers on the ship survived, but tons of copper, silver and gold ore sank with the ship.

The estimated value of the treasure was $2.4 million, and any shark who invested, would get 25% of the booty. All the company needed to make it happen was a work crew, diving equipment, an industrial marine vacuum, a barge, guns, lawyers and shark repellent!

Mark told the sharks that other divers were aware of the sunken ship, and had already looted the captain’s wheel and the whistle, and a few other artifacts during its century of rest underwater, but there was still plenty to find. He opened an ice chest to reveal chunks of raw copper ore from the ship, and said there was more where that came from.

Mark Cuban told Mark that he had received many funding requests from treasure hunters, but they never turned out the way the hunters thought. Daymond John said he didn’t know enough about buried treasure to know what he was getting into. Robert Herjavec was unable to estimate what sort of return he would get. Barbara Corcoran would have been more excited over jewels, rather than mineral. All 4 sharks were out.

Kevin O’Leary was the last remaining shark. He told Mark he was once involved with the recovery of a sunken ship near Cyprus, and he felt Mark was underestimating the time and money required to bring up the treasure, so he was out. With no offers from the sharks, Mark left without a deal. What happened next? Keep reading our Hargitt Marine Services update to find out!

Through our research, we were unable to find any definitive information about whether Mark had succeeded in recovering the valuable ore from the Mariposa, so we checked out his Facebook page. Mark’s last post about the ship and its treasure was in 2015, and included a photo of the coastal waters where the wreckage lay, and a comment that his ore was still out there. This will be our final Hargitt Marine Services update.

Would you like to learn about the other companies featured on Season 5 Episode 28? Follow the links below for our other company updates from the episode.

For even more on companies and products, be sure to stop by our Season 5 Products Page!

 

 

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Andrew Smith is the founder and owner of Shark Tank Recap. He is a longtime Shark Tank fan that has been watching it for years and has seen every episode multiple times. His friends know him as the Shark Tank expert, because he can answer any question about the show! His favorite Shark Tank products are Bertello's pizza oven and Bug Bite Thing!