NOAA Locates Polluting Shipwreck

A NOAA Ocean Exploration multibeam survey positively identified the wreck of an oil tanker, and the source of recent oil slicks.

By Passagemaker Newswire

December 14, 2021

Two years ago, during Windows to the Deep 2019, NOAA Ocean Exploration conducted a multibeam survey in the area where oil tanker SS Bloody Marsh was reportedly sunk by torpedo in July 1943.

Unfortunately, when the expedition team used a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to explore a possible target identified through this survey, they found it to be a rock outcrop.

This time, during Windows to the Deep 2021, they had better luck. As one of 87 shipwrecks listed on NOAA’s Potentially Polluting Wrecks list, it was important to find Bloody Marsh and get an ROV on site to identify the wreck and assess it for pollution risk.