19th-century shipwreck filled with champagne bottles discovered off Sweden, photos show

A 19th-century shipwreck filled with luxurious liquid cargo was recently discovered off the coast of Sweden.

A team of Polish divers with the Baltictech Assocation — an organization devoted to exploring the Baltic Sea — located the wreck using sonar, according to a news release.

It was found on July 11 about 23 miles south of Oland, a Swedish island, under around 190 feet of water, according to the Associated Press.

The wooden wreck, which was in good condition, was loaded with more than 100 bottles of champagne, mineral water and wine.

“There was so much of it that it was difficult for us to judge the quantities,” the release said.

With the help of historians, the bottles were dated to between 1850 and 1867, making them at least 157 years old.

During that time period, mineral water was a hot commodity that was believed to have medicinal properties.

“Its value was so precious that transports were escorted by the police,” the release said, noting the shipment could have been intended for members of one of Europe’s royal families.

Interestingly, the company that manufactured the bottles is still in existence today, and the divers have contacted them to discover more details.

The divers’ discovery of the wreck comes after decades of scouring the sea floor.

“I have been diving for 40 years, and it often happens that we find a bottle or two in a wreck, but to discover so much cargo, it’s a first for me,” Tomasz Stachura, one of the divers, told the Associated Press.

The salty waters of the Baltic Sea create good conditions for preserving shipwrecks, of which there are an estimated 100,000, according to The Guardian.

Multiple centuries-old wrecks have been found or surveyed in the sea in recent years, including a 15th-century vessel containing various spices that was explored in 2023.

This story was originally published July 26, 2024 at 3:27 PM with the headline "19th-century shipwreck filled with champagne bottles discovered off Sweden, photos show."