It may take another 15 years to map Estonia's seabed in full

The Estonian Transport Administration has mapped approximately three-quarters of the seabed, with work expected to continue for years. Four survey vessels are investigating the seabed, and this year alone, they have discovered seven new shipwrecks among other findings.
The deepest point of the Baltic Sea, measured at 459 meters, is off the coast of Sweden, while the deepest point in Estonian waters might be around 230 meters. The term "approximately" is used because the seabed survey, which has been ongoing for years, has not yet reached the area west of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa.
"Sea charts are based on this data, and if the data is missing, the chart cannot be accurate. So, the entire sea must be surveyed," said Peeter Väling, head of the hydrography department at the Transport Administration.
In addition to measuring depth, the survey vessels have identified and precisely measured approximately 700 shipwrecks and one and a half million stones.
"We have a lot of stones. We have recorded about one and a half million in our database," Väling said, explaining that a stone must be about a meter in size to be included in the database.
There have also been surprises that were difficult to explain at first, such as an object found 600 meters off the coast of Pärnu a couple of years ago.
"It was a water collection system built in the 1970s for a mud treatment facility. There is a concrete block, and from there, a channel extends all the way to the mud treatment facility, spanning the entire 600 meters. No one knew anything about it," Väling explained.
To accurately survey the entire Estonian maritime area and seabed, the hydrographers of the Transport Administration may need more than 15 years.
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Editor: Merili Nael, Marcus Turovski