A team of Polish divers found a 19th century shipwreck in the Baltic sea packed with some precious cargo, including over 100 bottles of unopened Champagne.
The discovery occurred during the Baltictech diving team’s recent trip to Sweden. The wreck appeared on the sonar detector about 20 nautical miles south of the island of Öland and seemed to be a fishing boat — a relatively unexciting find — but the team decided to check it out anyway.
“We were already after one dive that day and at first there were doubts whether there would be anyone willing to go down,” Baltictech said in a statement on its website. “Marek Cacaj and Pawel Truszynski showed a lot of determination and said that they would do a quick dive and they had been gone for almost 2 hours, so we already knew that there was something very interesting on the bottom.”
What they encountered was a sailing ship in very good condition, brimming with bottles of Champagne and wine, baskets of mineral water, and porcelain. The mineral water was sealed in clay bottles with the brand name “Seltsers,” a German company that still exists today. This find gave the team a clue in determining the age of the ship — historians noted that due to the shape of the stamp on the waters, they can conclude the shipment was produced between 1850 and 1867.
“In those days, mineral water was treated almost like medicine and only found its way to royal tables,” the diving team stated, suggesting that the contents of the ship may have been headed to royal recipients.
As for the Champagne, previous shipwreck findings would suggest that the bottles might still be in good condition. Bottles recovered from 20th century shipwrecks have proven to be incredibly well-preserved due to the ideal temperatures, lack of oxygen, and pressure of the deep-sea. Champagne brands are evening replicating the ocean-aging process, including Veuve Clicquot’s “Cellar in the Sea” program.
Baltictech notified the Swedish regional authorities of its finding, and are working with underwater research teams to strategically explore the wreck in the future, so it might be a while before the bottles start popping.
