What awaits us at Baltictech 2017? - on the trail of wrecks

The Baltictech 2017 conference is fast approaching and the excitement is growing. What exactly will be waiting for us at the thresholds of the Science and Technology Park in Gdynia on the weekend of 25-26 November? This question arises repeatedly, so we decided to prepare an answer to it. We hope that our mini-cycle presenting the invited speakers and the topics they discuss will help you plan your time at the conference better and more efficiently!

Cesare Balzi is an Italian wreck explorer. He gained his qualifications as a diver of the Regia Marina – the Italian Navy, as well as a technical diver and IANTD instructor. In short, a professional in the full sense of the word. Over the years he has made many important discoveries of historical wrecks. His main area of activity is the Adriatic Sea, where he has managed to locate many important vessels from the Second World War. You could read about the details of many of his expeditions on a regular basis, in leading Italian diving magazines.

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During the Baltictech 2017 conference, Cesare will tell us about an expedition a year ago that resulted, among other things, in the discovery of the Italian torpedo boat “Andromeda”. This ship was sunk during the night between 16n and 17 March 1941 by the British torpedo-bomber plane Fairey Swordfish. The IANTD expedition during which the discovery was made was organised to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the “Regina Margherita”.

Below is Cesare Balzi’s short diving Curriculum Vitae:

He started his recreational diving in 1991, on the island of La Maddalena (Sardinian Sea) and in 1993 he attended the Italian Navy diving school in Le Grazie, near La Spezia. In 1997 he became a professional diving instructor. He belonged to IANTD, where he eventually reached the level of Technical & Normoxic Instructor Trainer.

He participated in the 2003 IANTD expedition to the wreck of the Austro-Hungarian battleship “Szent Istvan”. In 2004, he was a safety advisor during the expedition to the shipwreck of the “Wilhem Gustloff”. A year later, after finding the Italian battleship “Regina Margherita”, he participated in an expedition in Albania, which located the wreck of the hospital ship “Po”.

In 2007 he returned to Albania, where he found another two Italian vessels, the destroyer “Interpido” and the transport ship “Re Umberto”. In 2015 he was deputy head of the expedition to the wreck of the “Sciré Italian” in Israel. In 2016 he was expedition leader to the wreck of the Italian warship “Regina Margherita” and during the expedition when he found the Italian torpedo boat “Andromeda” in the Gulf of Valona, Albania.

In recent years he has also managed to carry out many other successful wreck searches. Among others in the southern Adriatic Sea, in the region of Albania and Montenegro. Since March 2015 he has been a member of the elite Explorers Club, which brings together outstanding explorers.

All information can also be found on the official conference website baltictech.com