Seabed surveys for Lithuania's offshore wind farm find shipwreck in Baltic Sea

VILNIUS – A sunken ship has been found in the Baltic Sea during seabed surveys for Lithuania's first offshore wind farm, Ignitis Renewables, the farm's developer, said on Tuesday.  

The shipwreck was discovered at a depth of around 38 meters by Fugro Frontier, a geophysical survey vessel of the Dutch geotechnical company Fugro, it said in a press release.

"After receiving the information about the discovery of the shipwreck, we have informed the responsible state authorities, as this finding was not previously included in the database," said Paulius Kalmantas, communication partner at Ignitis Renewables, a subsidiary of the state-controlled energy group Ignitis Grupe.

The sunken ship is about 70 meters long and about 6 meters high. More information about it is expected after additional historical and underwater archaeological research. 

According to the Department of Cultural Heritage, 19 shipwreck locations in Lithuania's territorial waters in the Baltic Sea are currently listed in the Register of Cultural Heritage.

Ignitis Renewables says that the 120-square-kilometer seabed area designated for developing wind projects "has never been surveyed in such detail". 

In seabed surveys, Ignitis Renewables is also cooperating with Gavin & Doherty Geosolutions, a specialist offshore engineering and design consultancy that is part of Britain's Venterra Group, and Lithuania's Geobaltic.