The removal strategy consists of dry dock demolition and removal of the wreck where it lies. Breakwaters are now surrounding the whole vessel to construct a dry dock. The water will then be pumped out of the dock so the wreck will be dry. Then construction machinery will then break down the cruiser, and sort different demolition materials to be shipped out to waste and recycling facilities.
Pumping is planned to take 10-14 days, NRK reports. Cutting and removal of the wreck should be completed by the end of 2011. The whole operation has a NOK 328 million (app €42.4 mill) price tag.
The 211 meters long cruiser ended its days in Sørøya in the rocks outside Sørvær on the coast of Finnmark in December 1994. The cruiser was being tugged southwards for scrapping when it tore away during a storm and has since been to a lot of nuisance to the local population.
A decision to remove the wreck was made in August 2008, after debris from the cruiser delivered for recycling revealed that there were traces of a radioactive source, PCB and brominated flame retardants in the vessel.
The whole operation is being filmed for a future documentary. A web camera that has been put up near the shipwreck will provide possibilities for time-laps sequences in the film. This is the first time the new camera system Roundshot livecam is being used in Norway, which on three seconds can take 360° freeze-frames.
Follow the operation on-line. The on-line pictures have a 24 hour delay.
