Other Debt - Additional Information (Detail) - USD ($)	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2019
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Trade payable, interest bearing interest rate		12.00%
Trade payable in accounts payable		$ 600,000
Collateral asset carrying value		$ 0
Magellan Offshore Services Ltd [Member] \| Marine Equipment [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Proceeds from sale of marine equipment	$ 1,000,000
Contingent liability	$ 500,000
Collateral Agreement [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument maturity date		Aug. 31, 2018

Collateral asset carrying value.

No definition available.

Name:	omex_CollateralAssetCarryingValue
Namespace Prefix:	omex_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Contingent Liability

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	omex_ContingentLiability
Namespace Prefix:	omex_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Reflects the effective interest rate as of the balance sheet date on interest-bearing trade payables.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 835
-SubTopic 30
-Section 25
-Paragraph 13
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+ Details

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Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Carrying value as of the balance sheet date of obligations incurred (and for which invoices have typically been received) and payable to vendors for goods and services received that are used in an entity's business. Used to reflect the current portion of the liabilities (due within one year or within the normal operating cycle if longer).

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.19(a))
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+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Date when the debt instrument is scheduled to be fully repaid, in CCYY-MM-DD format.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.22(a)(2))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:dateItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The cash inflow from the sale of long-lived, physical assets that are used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services and not intended for resale.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 12
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109223946&loc=d3e3179-108585

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionsByRelatedPartyAxis=omex_MagellanMember
Namespace Prefix:
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Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

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Namespace Prefix:
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Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

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Namespace Prefix:
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Period Type: