The purpose of the survey is to gain a better understanding of the flooded vessel's track during the accident and document the seabed around the wreck in detail. This marine survey will locate as many objects as possible on the seabed that relate to the vessel in the vicinity of the wreck of MV Estonia. It is expected that numerous objects entered the water column from the time the accident started, and these objects should provide the basis for a better reconstruction of the ship’s track. Results of this survey will be used as an input for the numerical flooding simulations to be carried out next year. Difference between previous simulated tracks of the vessel is considerable, thus this survey could reduce the associated uncertainties.
The survey will be performed by the Norwegian contractor Reach Subsea AS which conducted the marine works at the wreck site of MV Estonia also in July this year. The vessel proposed for the project is the research vessel Skagerak owned by University of Gothenburg and operated by Northern Offshore Services. Vessel will be mobilized in Nynäshamn harbour, Sweden.
The aim of the contractor is to use cutting-edge technology to receive precise and detailed sonar data. Survey equipment EIVA Equinox combines EIVA’s ScanFish 3D remotely operated towed vehicle (ROTV) as a platform with Wavefront’s Solstice Multi-Aperture Sonar (MAS). The MAS blends the high performance of Synthetic Aperture Sonar (SAS) with the reliability and robustness of conventional side-scan sonar (SSS). This innovative approach significantly enhances resolution compared to traditional side-scan sonar.
