The water rescue team managed a spectacular rescue at the weekend: the emergency services were able to bring the “Bibelot II”, a valuable historic sailing boat, to the surface from the bottom of Lake Attersee with the help of a diving robot. The boat sank 130 meters deep on August 2nd during the sailing championship in the middle of the lake between Weyregg and Attersee on Lake Attersee. After the delicate operation, the volunteer rescuers were delighted: “We were able to hand over the boat completely undamaged.”
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Why the operation was tricky
This was preceded by several exploratory dives and rescue attempts. Operations at this depth are tricky for the divers. “The details have to be planned precisely. Since normal breathing air, as is usually used in compressed air bottles, is toxic at this depth, special gases are used that are precisely tailored to the depth,” say the experts from the Upper Austrian water rescue service. The divers only have a few minutes to work on the bottom at a depth of 130 meters, and they need most of the time to ascend again in order to take decompression breaks at several levels underwater.
Rescue in several days
The first rescue attempt had to be aborted due to a thunderstorm. The next day, a diving robot was attached to the boat as planned. Two special forces dived to the bottom using its cable and attached the recovery line – the most delicate part of the operation. The boat was then pulled out of the mud using a special cable winch that was brought out onto the lake on a pontoon and towed to shallower areas. The next day, the ship was finally brought to the surface using lifting balloons.
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Image: Austrian Water Rescue Association Upper Austria
Source: Nachrichten
