Submarine Wreck Found Near Island of Ruhnu
Researchers on an expedition near the island of Ruhnu have discovered the wreck of a submarine thought to have been sunk by the Soviet Navy in the late 50s.
No one apart from local fishermen, whose trawling nets were constantly getting tangled on a heavy object on the seabed, knew of the existence of the wreck, wrote Saarte Hääl.
Although sonar images confirmed that it is a submarine, researchers do not want to speculate on exactly where it came from, according to Maili Roio, advisor at the National Heritage Board and head of the expedition.
Underwater archeologist Vello Mäss, however, is sure that the vessel was a Shchuka-class submarine belonging to the Soviet Union that was used for training divers and was deliberately sunk in 1958.
The two-week mapping expedition that found the wreck was part of an Estonian-Swedish joint project called Shipwher, which aims to create an online database of underwater cultural heritage.
Ingrid Teesalu