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Investment In Unconsolidated Entity
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
Investment In Unconsolidated Entity [Abstract]  
Investment In Unconsolidated Entity

NOTE J – INVESTMENT IN UNCONSOLIDATED ENTITY

During the quarter ended December 31, 2009, we invested $500,000 for a 25% interest (five membership units) in SMM Project, LLC ("SMM") to pursue opportunities in the exploration of deep-ocean gold and copper deposits. SMM purchased a majority interest in Bluewater Metals Pty, Ltd. ("Bluewater"), an Australian company with licenses for mineral exploration of approximately 150,000 square kilometers of ocean floor in territorial waters controlled by four different countries in the South Pacific. In April 2010, SMM was acquired by Dorado Ocean Resources, Ltd. ("DOR") through a share exchange. At that time, DOR also acquired the remaining interest in Bluewater. We were issued 450 DOR shares in exchange for our surrendered units in SMM. We also acquired an additional 1,200 shares of DOR valued at $2,000,000 that resulted in a 41.25% ownership of DOR. Ultimately we held a 40.8% ownership of DOR. Under the terms of the Share Subscription Agreement (subscription payable), we had the option to pay for this investment in cash, provide marine services to DOR over a three-year period commencing April 2010 or exercise our contractual right to offset against the $2,000,000 marine services accounts receivable owed to us. See NOTE E for the disposition of this subscription payable. The focus of DOR was on the exploration and monetization of gold- and copper-rich Seafloor Massive Sulfide ("SMS") deposits.

During the year ended December 31, 2011, we were engaged by Neptune Minerals, Inc. ("NMI") and its affiliates to perform marine services relating to deep-sea mining on two separate charter agreements. The agreements provided for payments to us in cash and Class B shares of non-voting common stock of Neptune Minerals, LLC. During the year ended December 31, 2011, we earned 2,066,600 shares of the Class B non-voting common stock from these engagements. During this same period, NMI completed a share exchange with DOR shareholders whereby each one outstanding share of DOR was exchanged for 1,000 shares of NMI Class B non-voting common stock. We received 1,650,000 shares of NMI Class B non-voting common stock for our 1,650 DOR shares pursuant to the share exchange. In connection with this share exchange, NMI executed an assignment and assumption agreement, whereby NMI assumed $8,227,675 of the outstanding debt DOR owed to us. In addition, we executed a debt conversion agreement with NMI, whereby we converted $2,500,000 of the debt owed to us for 2,500,000 shares of NMI Class B non-voting common stock. At December 31, 2011, we have a net share position in NMI of 6,216,600 shares, which represents an approximate 31% ownership before any further dilution of the NMI stock.

Based on guidance in ASC 323: Equity Method and Joint Ventures, management has determined we are able to exert significant influence and, therefore, management believes it is appropriate to apply the equity method of accounting to this investment. Additionally, we do not have any requirements to provide any additional financial support to DOR or NMI. The original $2,500,000 accounts receivable related to the 2,500,000 share conversion was fully reserved and maintained a net book value of zero. The 1,650 shares related to the original DOR investment had a net book value of zero because DOR accounting was on the equity method and the entire investment was written down to zero. These stock conversions were viewed as contribution of non-cash assets with a carrying basis of zero. Therefore, we believe the carry-over basis is more appropriate to measure the investment than fair value. Accordingly, no gain or loss was recorded on these transactions.

At September 30, 2011, there was approximately $1,200,000 of outstanding DOR (NMI) losses allocable to us that we have not recognized in our income statement because these losses exceeded our investment. Based on the NMI and DOR transaction described above, we believe it is appropriate to allocate these losses to any incremental investment recognized on our balance sheet in NMI. During the three-month period ended December 31, 2011, we earned an additional $245,000 worth of the Class B non-voting common stock from our NMI marine services charter. Accordingly, we applied this amount against the unrecognized loss noted above. However, NMI has not provided their financial statements for the period ending December 31, 2011 so we are unable to accurately quantify their loss for the respective period. Since our investment carrying basis is zero at December 31, 2011, the remaining cumulative and outstanding losses of approximately $950,000, exclusive of NMI's results for the three-months ended December 31, 2011, are not yet recognized in our financial statements.