The Discovery Blog

Erik Börjeson www.ericborjeson.com is building a light rig for this summers Mars project. The small scale prototype is tested and working and he is now going full scale. The total output from the LED lights will be 4500W. That is about the same as 20 Halcyon 200W HMI lights! This will be unreal.

The light output will be 400.000 lumen! The goal is to illuminate 400 square meters to be able to reach F5,6 at ISO 800. There is virtually no ambient light on the Mars wreck so this artificial sun will be awesome for the filming and for still photography. It will be powered by a 6000w top side generator. A four point mooring will be set up to hold a ship with generator above the site. The amazing images on the Ghost ship used a light rig producing 100.000 lumen, this will have 4 times that output.

The Elena Konstantinou movie The return to USS Atlanta defender of Guadalcanal claimed the prestigious Spirit of  Independence Award at the film festival in Fortlauderdale FL USA. Ocean Discovery is proud to have been part of the making of this fantastic production.

Today Richard Lundgren was awarded diver of the conference award at Eurotek for his long search for the shipwreck Mars.    

The TV documentary Tall Ships at war  is under production.  Filming started this summer both on land and underwater.  Using the very best video technology available. The Red Epic 5K promises ultra-high resolution and image quality.  There is no ambient light at 70m so the biggest challenge is to light the scene.  The team at times had up to 6 off camera 200 Watt HMI lights in the water simultaneously to light the wreck site.  

In 2013 the underwater video production will continue with an even more ambitious plan. We hope to deploy a 5000 Watt ship-tethered HMI light to put an artificial sun just above the wreck.  This should be equivalent to about 20.000 Watt halogen light output. 

Richard Lundgren and Carl Douglas preparing the Ocean Eye custom built housing for the Red Epic 5K camera. Photo Ingemar Lundgren

GUE´s Jarrod Jablonsky lighting the scene for videographer Richard Lundgren. Photo Ingemar Lundgren

According to the latest research from Ingvar Sjöblom the leading historian on 16th century maritime history, the  Mars carried significantly more then 107 cannons.

Ingvar beliefs he has proof of the he exact number of cannons.  All but 4 where made of bronze.  The enemy side , the Danes and the Lübeck navies mostly had iron cannons of inferior quality.  Sweden which had abundant resources of copper had the luxury of equipping their more prestigious ships with the superior but very expensive bronze cannons. They could be loaded with more gun powder then the inferior iron cannons. More range and more penetrating power was the result.  This was a transition period of naval warfare. Mars was probably the first warship to sink an enemy vessel in direct cannon battle, the Lübeck ship Långe Barken. 

In this picture a diver is examining one of the many cannons of the Mars.  

Photo Ingemar Lundgren / Ocean Discovery

The dolphin "handle" of the cannon in close up.

Mars port side is almost completely intact.  The hull side is massive with enormous oak timber and numerous gun ports.  In this picture the viewer can get an idea of the size.  There is no ambient light but the water is clear and as seen here using a slave strobe really helps lighting the scene.  Diving the Mars is an almost out of this world feeling with diving lights penetrating the green water creating a green eerie gloom.

Photographed by Tomasz Stachura/ Ocean Discovery.  

Before diving operations started helicopter rescue drills where carried out.  The Visby search and rescue helicopter have been on standby during all diving operations.  Within 20min the helicopter is on site. The Mars is located in a remote area and the nearest chamber is several hours away by land.  So having access to a helicopter has been an important safety measure. 

Here the helicopter is lifting a doll from the deck of the Askholmen. Photo Ingemar Lundgren/Ocean Discovery 

The base of operations have been Böda hamn, Öland. Deep sea production´s boat the Zen have worked as a floating restaurant. Excellent food have been served everyday boosting the moral of the crew. MMT´s ship Askholmen have worked as a diving platform. The ship have plenty of space for 10 divers and crew. On board is a state of the art survey system, a Kongsberg multibeam sonar. The multi beam sonar have been used to survey the Mars and make exact measurements of the wreck site. The ship is also equipped with dynamic positioning which enables the vessel to stay at an exact position regardless of wind.

The RIB Skutt was used as a support vessel.

In front Askholmen and behind the Zen. Photo Ingemar Lundgren/Ocean Discovery 

Photographer Ingemar Lundgren preparing to dive onboard Askholmen

Hundreds of measurements of the hull and its structure as well as many cannons have been carried out during the past two weeks. This information will be valuable to the archeologists in their work trying to understand how the Mars really looked like. More then 100 dives have been done the past 2 weeks with a perfect safety record.

Here Bjørn Opperud is measuring one of the many cannons. This cannon was 420cm long. Photo Ingemar Lundgren/Ocean Discovery 

We are honored having the King visiting the Mars project.  The King who is also a diver and have participated in the excavations of the ship wreck Kronan have shown  great interest in the Mars project.  The King was taken out to the site where an ROV was operated showing live video from the wreck site.  The salvaged silver coins where also shown and the latest research results presented. 

We had a fantastic day at sea together with his majesty the King and we are very appreciative that the King is showing support and interest! 

From the left, Fredrik Skogh, Christoffer Modig, Richard Lundgren, Carl XVI Gustaf, Johan Rönnby, Carl Douglas. Photo Ingemar Lundgren/Ocean Discovery