Wreck hunters discover sunken ship in Lake Maggiore
Published: Thursday, Apr 4th 2024, 12:11
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By chance, wreck searchers off Brissago TI have found a passenger ship that sank almost a hundred years ago. Using robots and a submarine, the "Nautic Discovery Team" was able to take pictures and videos of the "Mercedes" lying at a depth of 270 meters for the first time at the beginning of March.
The discovery of the passenger ship "Mercedes" was pure coincidence. The wreck hunters of the "Nautic Discovery Team" were actually looking for another ship, the "Torpediniera T19", which had sunk in the same sea area in 1896 during a storm with twelve people on board and had remained undiscovered ever since.
Finding another shipwreck at this depth was quite a surprise, said Jörg Mathieu from the "Nautic Discovery Team" when asked by the Keystone-SDA news agency. Not many such discoveries are made at this depth. Mathieu's crew "dived" the wreck for the first time by submarine at the beginning of March.
Top condition of the wreck
Despite the torn bow, the condition of the wreck is "very good", Mathieu continued. The quagga mussel, which is considered invasive, has not yet settled on the wreck. Nevertheless, Mathieu assumes that the wood has lost its strength and that it would therefore hardly be possible to salvage the "Mercedes".
They found the wreck around one kilometer from the scene of the accident. The shipwreck specialists assume that the passenger ship drifted just below the surface for a while before sinking.
The "Mercedes" was lost for almost 100 years. The accident occurred on July 8, 1928, when the bow of the ship rammed into the side of the Italian passenger ship "Magnolia" off Brissago despite good visibility and calm seas.
According to research by the wreck hunters, the "Mercedes" suffered major damage to the bow and quickly filled with water. Seven passengers and one crew member were rescued. However, 22-year-old engineer Ferdinando Vigini was swept down with the ship, according to a press release from "Nautic Discovery", citing a local media report.
The "Mercedes" is not the first shipwreck to be discovered by the "Nautic Discovery". The Swiss Jörg Mathieu and the German Martin Wenzel have dedicated themselves to searching for previously undiscovered shipwrecks at home and abroad. Both Mathieu and Wenzel are passionate divers.
©Keystone/SDA
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