Kartlegging av vrak med HUGIN HUS i dumpefelt for kjemisk ammunisjon i Skagerrak

During a short combined training and mapping mission in June 2009 the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) found, using its autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) HUGIN HUS, twenty wrecks inside a limited area in, and nearby a dumping area in the Skagerrak. The mapped area represents less than a third of the declared dumping area. Previous missions in this area have only located some of these wrecks. During this mission the FFI has shown that by using an AUV it is possible to determine the presence and position of wrecks in the area with great accuracy. It was not the purpose of the mission to identify the wrecks, nor to assess the wrecks’ cargo, the condition of the wrecks or any possible environmental risk. Some wrecks were found outside the defined dumping area. Some of these may well also come from the ships scuttled in 1945. The size and position of the area may therefore have to be reevaluated.