Possible Medieval Shipwreck Spotted in Norway Lake

OSLO, NORWAY—Science in Norway reports that a shipwreck that may be as much as 700 years old was found in southern Norway’s Lake Mjøsa during a survey conducted by Øyvind Ødegård of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and his colleagues. The shipwreck, detected with an autonomous underwater vehicle, rests under more than 1,300 feet of water. Ødegård said it measures about 32 feet long and eight feet wide with a steering oar situated at the back of the ship. It appears that the overlapping planking of the clinker-built vessel may be separating, perhaps because its iron nails are rusting, he added. “Because this is a freshwater lake, the wood in such a ship is preserved,” Ødegård said. “The metal may rust, and the ship may lose its structure, but the wood is intact. A similar ship to the one we now found, it would not have survived for more than a few decades if it had gone down on the coast,” he concluded. The survey of the lake will continue. To read about Viking ship burials uncovered in Norway and Sweden, go to "Sailing the Viking Seas."