Shipwreck Survey Danube River

Introduction

In November 2019, a NORBIT team completed a bathymetric and FLS sonar survey around the barge wreck in the Dunabe River.

See the full video from the survey here:

System setup

• System used: NORBIT iWBMS and WBMS FLS
• Systems were mounted parallel on one pole
• Platform: RHIB vessel
• RTK used during the survey via cell phone

History of Liberty Bridge

Ferenc József bridge was blown up by retreating German troops in 1945. The central section of the bridge which had been blown up, was rebuild in and reopened in August 1946, with the new name Liberty bridge. Barges were used to bring in logs for the construction. A barge sank during the construction period and was left on the riverbed.

Survey of Sunken Barge in Dunabe River

The dismantling of the sunken barge was planned as early as 1948, however, the authorities never considered the issue to be important, especially since no one had ever been able to prove that the cargo of the barge sitting outside the main river fairway, was dangerous, hence the wreck was left alone.

In 2004 a diver claims that a barge is under water at Belgrade Quay, with up to seven hundred tons of ammunition aboard.

The Hungarian Defense Forces, with fifty people, including twenty divers, and two de-mining boats, took part in an action organised by the Defense Forces, to investigate the barge.

Divers found mud in the middle of the barge and thought it might contain bombs or ammunition.

The underwater investigation also included photos and video footage of the Army divers, who also exposed a large wooden pole from the ship. From what the divers saw, it was easy to imagine that the first diver might have looked at logs and debris, which could have resembled ammunition in the muddy water

iWBMS Bathymetric Sonar Results

The images below provide the results from the iWBMS Bathymetric Sonar scan. (image slider)