Kongsberg AUV Makes Unexpected Discovery in Loch Ness Survey

Kongsberg Maritime’s UK division has uncovered the long lost model of Nessie which was used during filming of 1970’s “The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes”.

The discovery was made during a survey of Loch Ness, led by Kongsberg Maritime Ltd and supported by The Loch Ness Project and VisitScotland.

Operation Groundtruth is the first survey of its kind in Scotland, making use of Kongsberg Maritime Ltd’s recently-launched MUNIN AUV. The underwater vehicle features sonar and camera equipment, which provide the ability to map areas up to a depth of 1,500 meters.

As Loch Ness has a reputation of being incredibly difficult to survey, the MUNIN AUV should help reveal brand new information regarding the Loch. Uncovering the 46 year old Nessie model was just the beginning.

Craig Wallace, senior subsea applications engineer at Kongsberg Maritime Ltd, said: “Kongsberg Maritime Ltd began surveying Loch Ness with some of the world’s first multibeam sonar back in 1987. Over the years, the company has returned many times, bringing the latest technology to uncover the Loch’s mysteries.

“We expect to uncover new information from the Loch during this survey, as MUNIN is the most advanced low logistics AUV on the market and is the first of the next generation AUVs from Kongsberg Maritime. Merging the cutting edge technology from the commercial sector whilst maintaining the robust reliability from the military market, the vehicle is providing insight to the Loch’s depths as never before imagined. Finding Nessie was, of course, an unexpected bonus.”