Hope of finding WR6 is lost, but divers do find another mysterious cutter

The search for the WR6, which has been lying somewhere at the bottom of the sea for 56 years, can be called a search for a needle in a haystack. Wreck divers of the Zeester wreck diving team from Lauwersoog, working together with historian and fisherman Cees Meeldijk, have now investigated dozens of wrecks, but the Wieringer kotter has still not been found.

Last summer the diving team already searched the seabed and last Saturday the wreck divers returned to the North Sea, where a number of wrecks on the seabed were studied far north of Schiermonnikoog. One had been noticed by the group before, and resembled the WR6 in size.

The wreck divers captured the cutter with their underwater camera and forwarded the images to Gert Lont, owner of the WR6. He was not sailing on his cutter at the time of his disappearance. His father filled in as skipper and went missing at sea on January 11, 1967, along with two crew members. A few months later, his father’s body washed up on the German island of Amrum. The other crew members were never found.

Gert, as with all attempts, anxiously awaited positive news. Even after all these years, he still has a lot of grief and wants nothing more than to know where his father and crew members died.

Disappointment

On Saturday, the wreck divers dived at the potential wreck and tried to find details that might match the WR6. After some comparisons, it was soon established that the wreck was no match for the WR6. There were too many differences. “For example, this boat had a wooden deck and the WR6 had a steel deck. This back was also very round. The WR6 was a bit more pointed,” says Cees Meeldijk. Gert Lont also saw even more differences. “For example, I already saw from the ship’s winch that it couldn’t be him.”

In the video below you can see the underwater images of the wreck (text continues below the video).

It is yet another disappointment for Gert Lont, who has wanted to know for 56 years where his ship with his loved ones has sunk. The search ends there. “We now no longer have any wrecks that we say could be him and we also have no idea where to look,” explains Cees Meeldijk.

And that means for Gert that he has to accept that his cutter, if there is no more new information, will probably no longer be found. “Personally, I’m also closing it now,” says Gert. “It is annoying and a pity that this is not him, but these people have done a fantastic and selfless job. I am very grateful to them for that.”

New quest

The book of the search for the WR6 will therefore close, as long as no new clues come up, but the unknown wreck of last weekend has made Cees Meeldijk curious again. “I will soon go back into the archives to see which wrecks meet these characteristics,” said the historian.

Thanks to the underwater camera, Cees has been able to capture many details of the as yet unknown wreck, and he therefore thinks it could be a Dutch ship. In addition, the divers took a few small items from the ship. “For example, gas oil caps and a few meters. You can also see whether there is text in Dutch or, for example, in German.”

So another new search for Cees Meeldijk, who hopes to be able to unravel which ship it is. Gert Lont immediately noticed something on the basis of the images: “I could see on the port side that he had been hit. There was a dent in the front.”

And Meeldijk is taking all this into account in his research, which will keep him busy for the time being. “We are sorry for Gert that it is not the WR6, but we are also very curious which cutter we have found. Who knows, this could have a good outcome for other people.”

NH closely monitors Cees Meeldijk’s searches.