Sunday evening an object was located and rescued from the area around the wreck of U-864. It turned out to be one of the (presumably) missing containers carrying mercury. The discovery of this container is of great value and importance, as it confirms the assumptions that U-864 had mercury in their cargo.
The discovery of the container carrying mercury was made when working in the area surrounding the keel of the wreck. The container showed signs of having been under water for such a long time, yet it was in surprisingly good condition. This was emphasized when the team from Franzefoss (handling of dangerous waste on this project) managed to unscrew the bottle and transfer the mercury on to special-waste containers. This discovery of the container can be interpreted as final evidence of mercury being part of the cargo in U-864.
Pre-investigation of the U-864 started Monday 3rd October 2005. The U-864 is located at depths of 150 meters (492 feet) outside Fedje, Hordaland. The investigation is being run by AS Geoconsult on behalf of the Norwegian Coastal Administration. The wreck of U-864 was discovered by the Norwegian Navy in March 2003
On 9th February 1945 the German submarine U-864 was on its way from Germany to Japan via Norway when it sank, due to being torpedoed by the British submarine HMS Venturer. The U-864 was carrying mercury, lead, steel and other materials for the purpose of warfare. Old documents claim the submarine was holding cargo of about 65 tons of mercury, stored in steel-containers.
In brief terms the purpose of the pre-investigation is to map and identify how to best effectively and safely handle the environmental issues concerning the wreck.
The Norwegian Coastal Administration presented its recommendation to the Ministry of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs June 2005. It suggested actions being taken to prevent the possibility of mercury pollution. The initiated pre-investigation (14.7 mill Government Funds) will identify the submarine – location and condition, hence serve as a recommendation for further actions. The recommendation from the Norwegian Coastal Administration also suggested the implementation of actions in order to prevent pollution of mercury.
Updates are published on www.kystverket.no (The Norwegian Coastal Administration), where we also have a web area dedicated to U-864.
Contacts, The Norwegian Coastal Administration:
Tor Chr. Sletner
Responsible for U-864 Project &
In Charge of Pollution Preparedness and Response
Mob: +47 990 41 944
Tine Randen
Information Adviser
Mob: +47 976 60 150
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For more information on U-864 and the Coastal Administration, go to the following link: