It is January 11, 1967 when the WR6 goes missing at sea. There was a heavy storm that night and nobody gets in touch with skipper Simon Lont anymore. They search with all their might, but after several unsuccessful searches, it is feared that the ship has sunk. Now, 56 years later, wreck divers are making another attempt.
It is a pleasure for Jan Maarten Pol and his comrades from Wreck diving team Zeester from Lauwersoog every weekend when they leave their boat and look for wrecks on the bottom of the sea. But this weekend’s expedition has a special edge. They go on a diving trip near the German island of Heligoland, because there may be the missing WR6.
A few years ago, the wreck diving team came into contact with Gert Lont, son of the deceased skipper Simon Lont. Simon Lont’s body washed ashore several months later, but the other two crew members were never found.
The same goes for the boat, which was not found after the divers’ initial search. But at the request of the family they are going to give it another try. “After so many years, they would like to know where their loved ones died,” he explains. Together with his team, he is now on his way to a location at sea that he received from the son of the deceased skipper, Gert Lont.
Tens of thousands of wrecks
Gert Lont has worked closely with experts and a cold-case agent in recent years to search for the area where his father and crew members sank. And that’s pretty difficult. “There are an awful lot of shipwrecks at sea, tens of thousands,” Pol explains, “So it’s a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack.” But eventually Wick thinks he’s found a wreck that could be WR6. They will investigate the divers.
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Equipment
To dive towards the wreck, the team needs a lot of equipment. All over the deck are crates with diving equipment such as wetsuits, oxygen tanks, flippers, ropes, pocket knives and flashlights. The divers are prepared for anything, because they don’t know what they will find. They have to investigate small details of the cutter whether it is the WR6 and they have all received this from Gert Lont.
Jan Maarten Pol, who has been a diver with the wreck diving team for ten years, is positive about the search. “We are very hopeful. This will be very special because your relatives can do a great deal of pleasure. I think that is important, that you can do something for those people.”