The wreck of a 19th sailing ship still loaded with its cargo of champagne, wine, mineral water and porcelain has been discovered in the Baltic off the Swedish island of Öland. The Baltictech diving group, a Polish association of divers dedicating to exploring shipwrecks in Baltic waters,
The sonar images were unremarkable (the wreck looked like a fishing boat, at most), so much so that there was some doubt whether any of the divers would think it was worth exploring. Two divers agreed to give a quick once-over. They ended up being gone for two hours, so the crew realized it was definitely not a fishing boat.
Instead, the wreck proved to be a merchant vessel in excellent condition, much of its original cargo still in place. There were so many bottles it was difficult to estimate total numbers.
“The whole wreck is loaded to the brim with crates of champagne, mineral water and china,” Tomasz Stachura, the leader of the Baltictech diving group, told AFP.
He said: “I have been diving for 40 years and it often happens that there is one bottle or two … to discover a wreck with so much cargo, it’s a first for me.”
Divers counted more than 100 bottles of champagne and baskets full of the famous Selters mineral water in sealed stoneware bottles. The shape of the bottles and design of the stamp indicate the water was bottled between 1850 and 1867.
The Baltictech group has notified the Swedish authorities about the shipwreck. They will not attempt recovery of any of the champagne or mineral water until they get the go-ahead from Sweden.
“[The ship] had been lying there for 170 years so let it lie there for one more year, and we will have time to better prepare for the operation,” Stachura said.
* This article was originally published here
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