In April 2012, Periplus Archeomare, in close cooperation with surveyors from DEEP BV, performed a number of high resolution geophysical investigations at the sites of two shipwrecks in the Fehmarn belt between Denmark and Germany.
The two shipwrecks are located on the route of a new-to-build tunnel in the strait and were discovered during a preliminary investigation in 2009.
The wrecks are suspected to be the remains of ships that perished during a major naval battle between Denmark and Sweden in 1644. Dutch ships were involved in this battle as well and from one of them it is known that it sank. Further research will tell if one of the wrecks is the Dutch ship.
Both wrecks are situated at 25 meter water depth and were investigated with multi beam equipment, side scan sonar, magnetometer and a sub bottom profiler. The combination of this state-of-the-art equipment led to very accurate and high resolution results.
This marine archaeological investigation was commissioned by the combination of the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde and the ‘Archäologisches Landesamt Schleswig-Holstein’.
Currently Danish and German diving crews are on site, further investigating the wrecks.
[mappress] Subsea World News Staff , May 16, 2012; Image: Femern