Shipwreck site inspection and wreck report software
Wreck sites are monitored over years: divers return to the same datum points, photograph the same features from the same bearings, and record what storms, anchors, corrosion and visitors have done since the last dive. The report goes to the heritage agency responsible for the site and must state who dived, what was seen and whether anything was disturbed. SurveyThanks holds the site’s datum points and features as a register so each dive’s observations line up against the previous season.
Built for maritime heritage running teams of roughly 3–50 inspectors.
Sample Wreck site report
An illustrative excerpt. The site, readings and findings are fictional; the layout is yours to set.
Wreck site report
Dive 2 — Stern section features
- Site
- Fictional barque wreck (protected zone)
- Conditions
- Visibility 8 m; swell 1 m; 14 m max depth
- Team
- Two divers, surface supervisor
| Feature | Observation | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Datum D3 (stern post) | Tag present; marker post upright | Change: None |
| Iron knee F12 | Concretion cracked along upper face | Change: Minor |
| Ballast mound | Sand cover reduced ~300 mm; timbers exposed | Change: Exposure |
| Anchor F4 | Fresh rope abrasion on fluke | Change: Disturbance |
Fields captured on site
Your firm builds the form in-app, so these are a starting point rather than a fixed schema. Every field is captured on the device, with or without signal, and lands in the wreck site report where your template puts it.
Each dive
- Dive number and times
- Max depth
- Visibility, current and swell
- Divers and roles
- Position (map pin)
Per feature
- Feature or datum ID
- Material (timber, iron, concretion, ballast)
- Observation
- Change since last inspection
- Photograph bearing and distance from datum
Site management
- Evidence of anchoring or interference
- Signage and moorings checked
- Recommendations
Standards the report works to
- Underwater Cultural Heritage Act 2018 (Cth)Protection of shipwrecks, sunken aircraft and other underwater cultural heritage
- Sets protected zones and permits; the report records any interference the Act prohibits.
- UNESCO Convention 2001Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage
- Its Annex rules are widely followed as practice guidance for activity on wreck sites.
Load the standards you hold into your reference library and the drafted prose is written against them rather than against a general model.
How the wreck site report gets built
Capture it once, offline
Your firm builds the shipwreck site inspection form in-app — 25 field types, nesting repeatable groups, compound AND/OR visibility rules, reusable modules and calculated fields. Field capture works with no signal: jobs, forms, photos, notes and audio all queue in an idempotent outbox that only clears once the server confirms receipt.
Link it to your fabric elements and spaces
Enter fabric elements and spaces once, as a register. Every one of your condition observations across inspection rounds then points at a stored row rather than a name somebody typed — and the links survive a disconnected device.
Render your own template
The wreck site report renders into the Word template you already use — your letterhead, your section order, your clause library — with conditionals, loops over repeats, composable sub-templates and photo grids.
Reviewed before it leaves
You write the review framework: a checklist of what a wreck site report must contain, plus the prose standards you would mark a junior against. Link it to a report template and it runs every time that template renders. Each finding comes back graded info, minor or major, quoting the sentence at fault, and a person accepts or dismisses every one.
Because the structured submission behind the report is held too, the review is a comparison rather than a proofread: The narrative says the verandah is stable; the condition record grades it poor and deteriorating.
Checks a heritage framework usually carries
- Every element in the schedule carries a condition grade and a photograph
- Change since the last inspection is stated element by element
- Recommendations are tied back to Burra Charter principles
- The significance assessment is consistent with the conservation management plan
Questions
- Can we fill the form in on the boat between dives?
- Yes. Download the day’s job and its form before leaving port; entries, photographs and notes stay on the tablet until it is back in range and the server confirms them.
- How do features stay consistent across seasons?
- Each feature and datum is a stored row. A dive’s observation points at that row rather than a typed name, so “F12” means the same knee in 2026 as it did in 2019, and the report can trend it.
- Can photos from an underwater camera be added after the dive?
- Photos can be added to the submission later from the tablet, and the template places them in grids against the feature they were attached to.
What this is not
Worth knowing before you book a demo, so neither of us wastes the half hour.
- Not field-service dispatch. No timesheets, no parts, no inventory. Scheduling exists to get an inspector to a site.
- No signature capture. If your deliverable has to carry a signed sign-off on the artefact itself, this is not the tool yet.
- Field capture is what works offline — jobs, forms, photos, notes and audio. Reports, chat, scheduling and the inbox need a connection.
- No client portal. Reports go out as a file or a password-protected link.
Other heritage work we cover
- Archaeological site monitoringSite monitoring report
- Ghost sign documentationSign documentation report
- Heritage building condition surveysConservation condition report
- Historic cemetery surveysGrave condition survey
- Indigenous heritage surveysCultural heritage report
- Museum object condition reportsObject condition report
- Rock art condition monitoringRock art condition report
- Statue and monument auditsMonument condition register
Other disciplines
Rebuild your wreck site report in SurveyThanks
Bring the Word template you already send clients. If you are coming off another field-forms tool, a filled report can be uploaded, read field by field, and re-rendered into your template.