The Santi Expedition to Find the Eagle - the search is on!

29 July marked the start of another SANTI expedition, Finding the Eagle, which aims to search for the wreck of the legendary Polish submarine ORP “Orzeł”. The SOO team’s activities are focused on the never-before-explored area “A3”, in the North Sea, and on checking another hypothesis concerning the sinking of the Polish ship.

From the information shared by the team we know that the search is ongoing and very intensive. Unfortunately, after 4 days of the expedition and checking 74 points selected before the expedition and those added during the expedition thanks to the information obtained on the spot, there are still no promising positions.

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“ORP Orzeł, like its twin ORP Sęp, was 84 m long. These are our largest submarines from World War II (they were about 10-20 m longer than German U-boats). This is exactly the size of the wreck we are interested in. So far we have not found the Eagle, and the largest wreck we encountered was 95 m long and 14 m wide.” – inform the participants of the expedition

Fortunately, we have outstanding specialists in their fields on board, so we can be sure that they will do their best and meticulously examine the designated positions. The SOO team has high-end equipment at its disposal, which, combined with the skills and experience of the hydrographers, allows for a thorough analysis of the surveyed objects.

“The team from the Maritime Institute, is a real top of the mechatronics specialists. Looking at the 3 monitors, they can recognise with real ease even the remains of a wreck or, on the contrary, reject the image of disturbances caused by larger waves. As we swim, we sonar around 200 metres of the bottom line and with every metre we create a 3D map of it. We swim from point to point, which Piotr Michalik determines, sometimes correcting our route on the fly. When wrecks appear on the screens, we are not only able to tentatively determine what the vessel is, such as a cutter, merchant ship or warship, but our multibeam sonar is so accurate that we can also determine the dimensions of the wreck with an accuracy of 0.5m!”

The search work goes on 24 hours a day. And the watches are set so that there is always a member of the “Nemo” crew at the helm, and two members of the SOO team in front of the monitors. The key element here is experience and teamwork, which makes the work go very smoothly. This time the weather is also a little kinder, and although not ideal, it is good enough to carry out exploration work.

More about the project:

Since its inception, the SANTI Finding the Eagle project has been financed by funds raised from sponsors and through the support of private individuals.

The activities of the participants and the course of subsequent expeditions can be followed via the official website and on the portal facebook.

SANTI sp. z o.o. – main sponsor of the project:

SANTI is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of diving equipment. In just a few years the company from Gdynia has transformed from a local manufacturer of diving suits into a brand with an established position on the global market of diving equipment in the world.

The company is present on all continents, selling to nearly 40 countries worldwide, including: the USA, South Korea, Canada, Australia, Brazil and the main European markets. SANTI’s flagship products include dry diving suits and warmers. For several years SANTI has been actively involved in organising and supporting international research expeditions (e.g. Sedna, Under the Pole, Elysium) and searching for wrecks all over the world. This is how the project “SANTI – Finding the “Eagle”” was born, which is to lead to finding the wreck and finally solve the mystery of the disappearance of the Polish ship.

Partners:

• Yellow Cargo Express sp. z o.o. – logistical support
• Maritime Institute Gdansk – hydrographic support
• Sea War Museum Jutland Thyboron , Denmark

Patronage:

• Mayor of the City of Gdynia,
• Naval Museum in Gdynia,
• National Geographic

Source: Organizer