Random find in Sweden - Divers discover East Sea-Shipwreck - and are delighted with sparkling cargo
A Ship fully loaded with Champagne bottles and German mineral water – Polish divers discovered this find on the seabed of the Baltic Sea off the Swedish coast. The wreck from the 19th century was "completely loaded with Champagne crates, mineral water, and porcelain," said Tomasz Stachura, CEO of Baltictech, to news agency AFP. Approximately a hundred bottles of the expensive French sparkling wine are reportedly part of the ship's surviving cargo.
"I've been diving for 40 years and it often happens that there's one or two bottles," said Stachura. "But a cargo like this, I've never encountered before."
Surprising Cargo Wreck
Stachura and his team discovered the cargo wreck about 20 nautical miles south of the Swedish island of Öland last week. It was indeed a serendipitous discovery, said Stachura. "We were exploring new areas out of pure curiosity and stumbled upon this wreck."
Based on the mineral water, which was transported in sealed clay bottles, Stachura was able to determine that the ship sank in the second half of the 19th century. "We managed to photograph the mark on a bottle that turned out to be from the German brand Selters," said the diver. The marking had the typical shape of the time.
Stachura and his team reported their discovery to the Swedish authorities. The Champagne may not be retrieved yet due to regulatory requirements. "It's been lying there for 170 years, we can wait a year longer – we have plenty of time to prepare for this operation," said the diver.
The ship that carried a fortune in Champagne bottles, mineral water, and porcelain was fortunate enough to be discovered in the depths of the Baltic Sea by a team led by Tomasz Stachura. The serendipitous find, containing over a hundred bottles of expensive French sparkling wine, has never been encountered by Stachura in his 40 years of diving. The team, while exploring new areas out of curiosity, stumbled upon the well-preserved cargo, which they suspect sank in the second half of the 19th century based on the German mineral water found in sealed clay bottles.
