Divers Discover Shipwreck from 19th Century Off the Coast of Sweden “Filled with Champagne”.
A team of divers from Poland accidentally found the ship, believed to be a merchant vessel, last week while diving in the Baltic Sea, 20 nautical miles (37 km) south of Öland Island.
Champagne bottles neatly arranged on the sunken ship in the Baltic Sea approximately 170 years ago. (Photo: Tomasz Stachura/Baltictech).
The brackish waters of the Baltic, which has seen around 100,000 shipwrecks, are an attractive destination for divers, marine archaeologists, and recently, treasure hunters.
The divers counted about 100 bottles of champagne in the ship’s hold, along with porcelain and mineral water.
Tomasz Stachura, the leader of the Baltictech diving team, told AFP: “The entire wreck is filled with barrels of champagne, mineral water, and porcelain.”
“I have been diving for 40 years, and typically on a wreck, there would be about one or two bottles… along with a lot of cargo. This is the first time I have encountered something like this,” he added.
A member of the Polish diving team exploring the sunken ship. (Photo: Tomasz Stachura/Baltictech).
The team of divers has been searching for shipwrecks on the seabed for many years “just out of curiosity” when they discovered this particular wreck. Team members noted that the discovery of clay-sealed bottles helped them date the ship to the latter half of the 19th century.
Mr. Stachura mentioned: “We tried to photograph the brand name embossed on a clay bottle, which turned out to belong to the German company Selters – and the logo was exactly as it appeared during that time.”
The divers stated that they have informed the Swedish local authorities about the shipwreck but that it will take time to bring the champagne bottles to the mainland.
“The ship has been there for 170 years, so let it rest for another year, and we will have better time to prepare for this operation,” Mr. Stachura said.
