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DELTARES, September 2016
SHIPWRECKS
IN THE WAY
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The seabed is littered with shipwrecks. UNESCO has
estimated that there are up to 3 million of them. Not just
old sailing ships full of archaeological treasures but also
modern wrecks. They can be a safety risk and harm the
environment. Wreck clearance is a profession in its own
right. Deltares makes the calculations needed..
BY MEINTE BLAAS
IMAGE REIMER/LAIF
Wrecks formartificial
reefs where fish and other
marine life flourish. In
the North Sea, wrecks are
often cherished by divers
and other nature lovers.
But fishing gear that gets
tangled up with these
vessels can represent an
ongoing danger for many
marine animals. Volunteers
retrieve thousands of
kilogrammes of 'ghost nets'
every year.
The salvage costs for the
cruise ship Costa Concordia
established a new record
recently: in excess of € 1.5
billion, more than three
times the construction
cost of the ship ten years
earlier. The Costa Concordia
sank off the Italian coast in
2012 and it was salvaged
by tilting the vessel onto an
undersea platform.
A ship sinks somewhere in the world every day. Once
a week, this will be a vessel that represents a threat
to shipping, safety or the environment, and then the
vessel has to be removed. Vessels are getting ever larger
and so salvage costs are rising accordingly. Operations
can cost tens of millions of euros. Salvage companies
do have themachines, but not always the expertise, to
complete these operations as efficiently and safely as
possible.
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