Nord Stream to Salvage Historic Shipwreck Artefacts Near German Island of Rügen
Aug. 18, 2008 | Zug | Nord Stream AG is planning to raise the remnants of a shipwreck off the coast of the German island Rügen. The recovery of the shipwreck artefacts, which are part of a historic barrier of shipwrecks in the Bay of Greifswald, is planned for 2009 and will clear a corridor roughly 60 metres wide for laying the Nord Stream gas pipeline. Nord Stream will work closely on the project with the Bureau for Culture and Care and Preservation of Ancient Monuments and Artefacts (LKD M-V), which is the relevant authority in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. After the artefacts are salvaged, the LKD M-V will examine them before re-submerging them in a remote gravel lake for archaeological preservation and research along with artefacts from three other ships already located there. Nord Stream will finance all salvage and transport costs.
Following evaluation by the LKD M-V of existing side-scan data and before the actual salvage starts next year, divers will survey the artefacts this summer in their initial location. The artefacts favoured for recovery are shipwreck remnants that are in an area about 12.8 metres long by 3.5 metres wide. The operation will involve use of a base ship with six diver-researchers and one scientific specialist. The team will lift the artefacts in a one-time operation using a special steel hoisting frame.
Historical background of the shipwreck barrier
In 1715, during the Great Northern War, the Swedish navy ballasted some 20 ships, each about 15 metres long, positioning them to sink on the seaward sill of the Bay of Greifswald. Resting on the shallow sea bottom and only two metres below the surface, the ships form a 980-metre defensive barrier which prevented enemy fleets from entering the bay. The remains of the wrecks were re-discovered in 1996 and were later surveyed and charted using a special scanner.
