A survey contractor working for Equinor in the Flemish Pass Basin has found a shipwreck in the basin area.

Survey contractor Fugro discovered the wreck earlier this month through an autonomous underwater Vehicle (AUV), Fugro’s Echo Surveyor VIII in about 1200m of water. Two images it captured are of processed high-resolution sonar data.

The site investigation operations are part of Equinor’s ongoing early-phase activities to better understand the seafloor environment and geotechnical aspects of the Flemish Pass Basin.

The portion of the vessel that can be identified is 80m long and 20m wide, but the wreck remains unidentified. The data has been shared with the Canadian Coast Guard and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.

As AUV technology does not transmit its imagery live, the wreck was detected only after the survey was already completed at its location. Equinor has no plans to return to the survey area at this time.