Symposium
Conserving historic wrecks for future generations
During the symposium (October 26th 2009) internationally known experts will report on their experience with the conservation methods of well known and famous shipwrecks. These include the earliest known polar exploration ships (Viking ships in Denmark and Norway) and the warships ‘Vasa’ (flagship of King Gustav II Adolf of Sweden, sunk in 1628 and recovered 333 years later) and the ‘Mary Rose’ (flagship of Henry the VIII of England, recovered after more than 450 yr on the seafloor). More recent are the WWII battleships in the Pacific Ocean.
The workshop (October 27th 2009) will evaluate the results obtained so far on the wreck of the ‘Belgica’ (sunk in 1940 during the Battle of Narvik). Still with explosives on board, she rests at a depth of 20m in a fjord near Harstad, Norway. On board of the Belgica, the Belgian Expedition (1897-1899) led by Adrien de Gerlache was the first to spend the winter in Antarctica, locked in the pack ice. It was also the first purely scientific expedition and an internationally one with e.g. R. Amundsen, Cook , Arctowski as well known participants…
Patronage
The symposium is organised by the Faculty of Science of the UHasselt, under the patronage of Ms. Sabine Laruelle, Federal Minister of SME, Self-Employed, Agriculture and Science Policy and under the auspices of the Belgian National Committee for Antarctic Research of the Royal Academy of Belgium of Arts and Sciences. The workshop is organised in collaboration with the Belgica Society.
