Diving at Blücher

By Morten Frogner, Nordic Explorers

Jan. 2004

The wreck of the 2. ww German warship lies in the Oslofjord at 60 to 90 meter depth. The wreck is upside down with the bow as the deepest part. Diving the wreck is difficult of several reasons; tide current, boat traffic, visibility, depth, weather etc. Members of Nordic Explorers have done several dives at the wreck, but every dive requires a support team and detailed planning.

The shallowest part is about 60 m, but the most interesting part of the wreck is between 80 and 90 m. The visibility can vary from 2 to 10+ depending of season. Current and traffic are the most demanding when it comes to planning.

All boat traffic to Oslo passes right over the wreck. The passage for big ships is less than 600 m wide. Most traffic is in the morning before 10.00. We use one support boat with VHF to call every coming ship. Normally he get contact and can ask the pilot to slow the speed when passing the dive boat. If the visibility is good it is possible to see the ships 30 minutes before they arrive. Traffic from Oslo may use another passage, but not always. It is important not to interfere the traffic to much. Otherwise the authorities may claim a prohibition to dive the wreck.

Tide current is another problem. In the Oslofjord the tide can be 0.6 m at maximum and 0.2 m at minimum, but the current can be strong, up to 3 knots. The best conditions are at minimum and this appears a few days during a 30 days period. Our experience is that high tide give the longest period with small or no current. The current can be affected by wind. This may speed up or delay the tide change with up to one hour. Because of the ship traffic drift deco is absolutely not preffered.

To catch up possible drifting deco divers we need at least one support boat to follow and mark the place. We also use one boat at the mooring at the wreck. Including the boat to call the arriving ships this is at least 3 boats, but we prefer to have one support boat for every diver in the water.

Planning tide current, ship traffic, support team and weather, we don't dive this wreck more than a few times each year. We prefer safety before quantity, but other may do it simpler. We are all diving in our free time and we can not guide other divers on the wreck. No commercial operators guide tours on the wreck.