Shipwreck with 19th century luxuries discovered
**Polish divers have discovered a supposedly sunken sailing ship with luxuries off the coast of Sweden. Among the cargo were reportedly porcelain and approximately 100 bottles of Champagne and mineral water. The ship's cargo may have been en route to the royal court in Stockholm or the residence of the Russian tsar in St. Petersburg at the time of the sinking, said the CEO of the private diving team Baltictech, Tomasz Stachura.
The discovery is said to have taken place on July 11 in the Baltic Sea at a depth of about 58 meters. The diving group had been searching for shipwrecks on the Baltic Sea bed about 37 km south of the island of Öland for potentially suitable sites. The group was about to call off the search for the day when two divers went back down for one last look. Two hours later, they returned to the surface and reported the discovery.
"I've been diving for 40 years and it's not uncommon for us to find one or two bottles in a wreck; but to discover this much cargo, I've never experienced that before," Stachura told the Associated Press.
Some of the found bottles reportedly bore the mineral water label Selters. The Champagne bottles' labels were unclear, but a letter R was visible on a cork, Stachura said. Stachura believed the contents were still in good condition. "The wreck is perfectly preserved in this depth, the temperature is constant, there are no currents, and it's dark," Stachura explained.**
The luxury goods discovered in the shipwreck included not only porcelain but also a considerable amount of Selters mineral water and over 100 bottles of Champagne, some of which had a visible letter 'R' on their corks. This century-old shipwreck, located deep in the Baltic Sea, may have carried these high-end items as part of its cargo, intended for prestigious destinations such as the royal court in Stockholm or the Russian tsar's residence in St. Petersburg.
