Press
The Baltic Sea is a magnet for many holidaymakers. They have now seen an unmanned sailing boat floating on the water.
Baltic Sea – A “ghost ship” in the coastal triangle between Denmark, Sweden and the German Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on the Baltic Sea? Not quite, but almost. The mini sailing ship “Sailbuoy”, an unmanned and autonomous drone from the Norwegian company Offshore Sensing AS, is the absolute eye-catcher in the Baltic Sea. When the two-meter-long and one-meter-high buoy is at least in the less wave-heavy sections of the sea.
A woman recently had to make a different experience. sleeping holidaymaker floated on an air mattress out onto the Baltic Sea.
On a scientific mission: Sailing buoy on the Baltic Sea collects data near offshore wind farm
The drone, which weighs 60 kilograms, is mainly drifting in the area northeast of Kriegers Flak, a three-part offshore wind farm. Swedish Maritime Administration Sjöfartsverket And the ship is officially traveling in the name of science. How Yacht.com reported, it is part of the international research project sambaThe special research task for the buoy: to record a range of weather, wind, water, air and salt parameters using sensors.
- Wind direction
- Wind speed
- Air pressure
- Air temperature
- Water temperature
- Wave height
- Wave period
- Salinity
Researchers hope to gain new insights into “wake turbulence”
The collected data is then sent to the operator of the mini sailing boat in Sweden – the Voice of the Ocean FoundationOn their homepage, interested parties can view the recorded parameters as well as the current location of the drone.
The researchers are concerned with determining the extent of so-called wake turbulence, the wake behind offshore wind farms. Here, the speed of the wind drops rapidly, as a study by the University of Tübingen revealed back in 2018.
Wake turbulence
They form in the slipstream behind individual wind turbines when wind hits them from one side. In these shielded areas, the wind speed is lower, pressure conditions are changed and turbulence is increased. Such wakes can be many kilometers long. These vortex tangles are also visible when the air humidity is high. The phenomenon is mainly observed behind aircraft.
Whether and, if so, to what extent this will have an ecological impact on the marine environment and how people will then have to adjust their sustainable energy generation concepts has not yet been conclusively clarified. In the past, a study revealed Dangers to the Wadden Sea from wind farms.
Sailing buoy on the Baltic Sea without lighting – collision can be accepted
The drone started its mission at the end of May 2024. It is scheduled to be completed by the end of October, according to Sjöfartsverket. The ship will not be idle during this time. At least, if the information from Offshore Sensing AS is to be believed. “The autopilot battery has enough energy to navigate for six months without recharging,” the manufacturer writes on its website.
With a top speed of two knots, equivalent to around four kilometers per hour, the drone moves between specified waypoints within a range of four kilometers.
Meanwhile, the Swedish authorities have informed seafarers that “Sailbuoy” has no lights or reflectors and also no automatic identification system that sends navigation data. However, there is no need to fear an impact: “Seafarers do not need to pay any attention to the buoy as it is built to withstand a collision.”
Submarines also operate in the Baltic Sea region. Sweden recently armed itself with two attack submarines in the Baltic Sea. (pls)
