Jakarta –
The shipwreck, nicknamed the ‘Titanic of the Alps’, will return to the surface after more than 90 years of submergence.
The Säntis, as this ship was originally called, was sunk to the bottom of Lake Constance on the Swiss-German border in 1933 because it was deemed unfit for sea but too expensive to scrap.
However, at a depth of almost 210 m, conditions shrouded in darkness and lack of oxygen mean that the 48 m long steamship is still well preserved even though it has been almost a century.
The plan to return Säntis to the surface has been approved. This ship is planned to be displayed and exhibited to the public in a museum.
“We want to present to the public what we have here. This is a monument that we have from our predecessors. That is the main goal,” said Silvan Paganini, President of the Ship Salvage Association, quoted by the Daily Mail.
Säntis was originally a ferry service that took passengers around Lake Constance. This ship operated for 40 years and carried up to 400 passengers at a time.
But after the mistaken decision to switch the ship’s engines from coal to petroleum, exacerbated by the economic downturn in the region, Säntis’ owners reluctantly scuttled it.
The Swiss Lake Constance Shipping Company, which was the owner of the ship at that time, took the Säntis to the middle of the lake and sank it to a depth of 210 m.
Photo: Schifssbergevere via Pen News
Säntis was forgotten. Until decades later, an underwater survey in 2013 discovered the location of the shipwreck.
The ship was then purchased by the Ship Salvage Association Romanshorn who immediately planned to return it to the surface.
Säntis earned the nickname ‘Titanic of the Alps’ due to a number of similarities between the two ships. “The steamer Säntis had a three-cylinder steam engine like the Titanic,” said Paganini.
“Three-cylinder steam engines are very rare, so that’s one of the similarities from a technical perspective,” he said.
According to Paganini, both ships also sank in very similar ways. “The stern is raised into the air with the flag flying high, it is also similar to the Titanic,” he explained.
Säntis is actually even older than Titanic, having been commissioned 20 years before Titanic sank. However, because of the deep mountain lake, the conditions are much better.
Divers found the original paint was still clearly visible, leaving the ship’s name proudly displayed. However, Säntis is in danger of being damaged by an invasive mussel species and needs to be saved urgently.
Quagga mussels were originally an introduced species, first discovered in Lake Constance in 2016. Since then, they have spread rapidly and become invasive.
A 2022 study from the Baden-Württemberg Fisheries Research Station found that the mussel is now the dominant species in lake bottom communities.
The worry is that the mussels will soon cover the Säntis with a thick layer. So far, shells have been found in Säntis chimneys, raising concerns that time to transport them to the surface may be limited.
Efforts to lift the ship are planned to begin in March this year. Divers will attach a kind of balloon to the ship before inflating it to pull the ship closer to the surface.
The first lift will take Säntis from the seabed to a depth of 12 m before the final rise to the surface takes place in April.
Furthermore, Säntis would then be renovated at the nearby shipyard at Romanshorn, which had previously been renovated in 1898.
“The plan is that the ship will be displayed in a museum somewhere in Switzerland,” said Paganini.
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(rns/rns)
2024-02-08 22:45:46
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