Champagne found in Baltic shipwreck – History

The wreck of a 19th-century sailing ship has been discovered in the Baltic Sea near the Swedish island of Öland, carrying champagne, wine, mineral water and porcelain. The Baltictech diving group is a Polish association of divers dedicated to exploring shipwrecks in the Baltic Sea.

There was nothing special about the sonar images (the wreck looked like a fishing boat at best), so much so that one wondered if any divers thought it was worth exploring. Two divers agreed to give it a quick check. They ended up leaving for two hours, so the crew realized it was definitely not a fishing boat.

Instead, the wreck turned out to be a merchant ship in good condition, with much of its original cargo still in place. There were so many bottles that it was difficult to estimate the total number.

“The entire wreck was filled with champagne, mineral water and porcelain,” Thomas Stachula, leader of the Baltic Technical Cooperation diving team, told AFP.

“I’ve been diving for 40 years and I always take a bottle or two of water with me… but this is a first for me to find a shipwreck with so much cargo on board,” he said.

The divers counted more than 100 bottles of champagne and a basket of the famous Celtics mineral water in sealed ceramic bottles. The shape of the bottles and the design of the seals indicated that the water had been bottled between 1850 and 1867.

Baltictech Group has informed Swedish authorities of the sinking. They will not attempt to salvage any champagne or mineral water until they receive permission from Sweden.

“[The ship] “It’s been lying there for 170 years, so let’s leave it there for another year so we have time to better prepare for the surgery,” said Stachula.