Tomasz Stachura/FacebookA diver exploring the shipwreck, which is located off the coast of Sweden.
While exploring shipwrecks in the Baltic Sea, a team of divers decided to take a quick look at a wreck they thought was probably just a fishing boat. To their surprise and delight, it turned out to be a 19th-century sailing ship — stocked with more than 100 bottles of champagne.
The divers haven’t popped the bottles (yet). But they are eager to learn more about the ship, its cargo, and what happened to it centuries ago.
Discovering The Shipwreck Filled With Champagne
Tomasz Stachura/FacebookDivers didn’t expect to find much when they went to check out a shipwreck off the coast of Sweden that had appeared only faintly on their echosounder.
According to a Facebook post from Tomasz Stachura, he and other divers were looking for shipwrecks in the Baltic Sea in late July when they decided to check out one that had appeared faintly on their echosounder. It was so faint that they didn’t expect to find much, and presumed that it was just a fishing boat.
“At the beginning there were doubts whether anyone would be willing to go down,” Stachura explained in a translated statement.
Two divers decided to take a look — and spent two hours below the surface as their boat bobbed off the coast of Sweden. At that point, Stachura and the other divers on their ship suspected that they had found something interesting. And they had: a 19th-century shipwreck stocked with some 100 bottles of champagne, as well as porcelain, wine, and mineral water.
Tomasz Stachura/FacebookIn addition to 100 bottles of champagne, the divers also came across wine, porcelain, and mineral water.
“There was so much of it that it was hard to estimate the amounts,” Stachura wrote. “But we’ve definitely seen over 100 bottles of champagne and baskets of mineral water in clay bottles.”
What’s more, Stachura suspects both the mineral water and the champagne could still be drinkable.
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The Remarkable Cargo In The Doomed Ship
Tomasz Stachura/FacebookThe shipwreck, seemingly untouched for over a century, seems to be in fairly good condition.
The champagne bottles were certainly the most exciting part of the shipwreck. But as Stachura explained in his Facebook post, it was the mineral water that offered clues about the ship itself.
“It was this water that turned out to be the most interesting and led us to further paths,” he wrote.
In the 19th century, mineral water, considered medicinal, was highly valued by Europe’s royal families. It was so precious, in fact, that ships carrying it often had security escorts.
The wreck contained about 100 lacquered bottles of mineral water produced by a company called Selters, a German brand that exists to this day.
Tomasz Stachura/FacebookThe shipwreck also contained bottles of mineral water, which were considered “precious” in the 19th century.
“Thanks to the shape of the stamp and the help of historians, we know that our transport was manufactured between 1850-1867,” Stachura wrote. “Interestingly, the ceramics factory where the water used to be bottled also exists and we are in contact with them to find out more details.”
The divers didn’t try the champagne — in fact, the bottles are still at the bottom of the sea and will stay there for now — but the discovery is certainly worth raising a glass over.
After reading about the shipwreck filled with bottles of champagne, wine, and mineral water, discover the stories of some of history’s most famous shipwrecks — and their heartbreaking stories. Or, discover the eerie stories behind some of the world’s most fascinating sunken ships.