Sunk for 90 years – Lake Constance wreck to be retrieved in March This Swiss village lost the right to its name because of champagne

The ship “Säntis” has been sunk in Lake Constance for 90 years. A club wants to lift it and put it on display in March. The material crucial to the complicated operation has just arrived from China.

The planned lifting of a 130-year-old ship from the bottom of Lake Constance is entering the hot phase. Shortly before Christmas, the twelve lifting bags arrived at Romanshorn TG that will lift the wreck from a depth of 210 meters to the water’s surface, the chairman of the ship salvage association Silvan Paganini told the German news agency DPA. The bags were ordered in China and first shipped to Hamburg and then brought to Switzerland.

The deadline for authorities and organizations in Germany, Austria and Switzerland to object to the project expired on December 31. The association created to raise the “Säntis” will find out in the coming weeks if anyone stands in their way. “We are confident that everything will go according to plan,” said Paganini.

The “Säntis” was no longer seaworthy and was sunk in May 1933. It is located in the middle of the lake between Romanshorn and Langenargen on the German side. Demolition was rejected at the time because it was too expensive. The 48 meter long ship has been sailing on Lake Constance since 1892. It could carry 400 passengers.

Time is of the essence because of mussels

The rescue operation will begin in early March. The ship must be lifted using the lifting bags and a salvage platform and stored closer to the coast at a depth of approximately twelve meters. It should be fully restored by early April.

Time is running out, Paganini said. On the one hand, because the club can use the shipyard in Romanshorn free of charge for 14 weeks from March. “But also because of the quagga mussels,” Paganini explains. The introduced species has been spreading in Lake Constance for a few years. The shells could soon cover the wreckage in a thick layer. Something similar has already happened with some wrecks in shallower water, he said. “The wreck of the steamship “Jura” at Bottighofen is just a big pile of quagga shells.” There were also grenades on the chimney of the “Säntis”, which was found in July.

The exhibition location is not yet known

In addition to donations in kind, the association with approximately 30 members has raised 260,000 francs through crowdfunding for salvage materials and the preservation of the wreck. After the salvage, there is already a mooring for two years, according to Paganini. The “Säntis” will be exhibited. It was still unclear whether it was in Switzerland. “We have no obligation yet and are open.”

Paganini, technical operations manager at Swiss Lake Constance Shipping, worked for a long time in the offshore oil and gas industry. What attracted him to the project was how the lifting could be achieved with little money and without large crane structures. “The depth of the water is exciting and you have to use a few tricks,” he said. (sda/dpa)