Polish divers have uncovered a 19th century shipwreck laden with champagne and mineral water that may have been intended for the tsar of Russia.
A team of divers from a company called Baltictech uncovered the wreck in about 60 meters (196 feet) of water in the Baltic Sea. The ship is sitting to the south of Sweden, but outside Polish territorial waters.
After first discovering the wreck, the dive team was surveying the landscape around the sailing ship and didn't initially notice the precious cargo that has been seemingly sitting in the silt for over 170 years.
In a company statement, Baltictech diving team leader Tomasz Stachura said his team regularly scours the Baltic Sea for shipwrecks, but didn't have any particular vessel on their agenda when sonar picked it up.
The team almost sailed by, said Stachura. "One of the wrecks on the sonar was barely scratching and looked like a fishing boat," Stachura said.
"Together with my colleague we went down to the seabed of the Baltic Sea," said Marek Cacaj, a diver on the Baltictech team. "It's about 60 metres deep, and it turned out that there is an old ship there. This ship is mostly intact. Not much destroyed --- only the bow was a bit damaged. At the beginning, we didn't pay attention to the cargo of this ship."
But soon after marveling at the pristine condition of the vessel, Cacaj noticed valuable booty resting not only within the ships remains, but also around the entire area where the shipwreck is sitting.
"We just swam around it, and then we noticed many bottles, in particular champagne bottles. They were seen everywhere because most likely these were most of the bottles on the shipwreck and they simply got spread around. They were not only on the shipwreck but they were also lying nearby," said Cacaj.
According to the Baltictech team, they counted over 100 bottles on the sea floor.
After returning to the surface and beginning the work to uncover the history of the ship, Cacaj believes they know who produced the champagne... and even who it was for.
"We already know who the producer of the champagne is. We know it is a very exclusive champagne. Most likely, this champagne belonged to the tsar, so the cargo was meant to go to Russia, which can increase its value a lot. We know that it was not random products that was delivered to the tsar's table, so everything must have been exclusive."
According to Baltictech, they also believe the producer of the mineral water is a company called Selters. The company is a German brand of natural mineral water sourced from wells in the Selters area in Hesse, in the Taunus mountains. The original word 'selter' was a pre-cursor of the word 'seltzer' -- the fizzy soda water -- as we know it today.
The statement from Baltittech says, "This is a German producer which still exists, and its products are still considered exquisite. Thanks to the shape of the stamp and with historians help, we know that our shipment was produced between 1850-1867. Interestingly, the pottery factory into which the water was bottled also exists, and we are in contact with them to find out more details."
While Cacaj and his team are keeping the position of the vessel secret for obvious reasons, they did reach out to the champagne manufacturer to see if they could definitively connect the tsar to the ship's long-lost cargo.
"We also know, because we are in touch with the producer of this champagne, that this was champagne specifically produced for the tsar, which was sweeter just for him. If it turns out that those are these bottles, of course, we need to get permission from Sweden to bring a bottle out and send it to the producer so they can confirm whether it's their product," he added.
Given the timeline of production between 1850-1867 for the mineral water, the team at Baltictech now believes the champagne could have been for Tsar Alexander II, who ruled Russia from 1855-1881.
"The champagne could then come from the renowned Louis Roederer label, which since 1876 has been producing a special, twice as sweet Champagne destined for the imperial court," Baltictech posted recently on their Instagram account.
It will take time to get authority from the Swedish government, which may not occur at all. But if they're successful, Cacaj also believes there would be more value than simply the champagne. Mineral water was also highly prized at the time -- believed to have medicinal qualities and was only available to the wealthy, especially in tsarist Russia. There may be wine aboard, too.
The Russian Empire, ruled by a noble class of tsars from roughly 1547 to 1917, imported high-end goods from neighbouring factions like the Swedish Empire, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Ottoman Empire, that weren't available throughout Russia. Most expensive goods were delivered almost exclusively to Russian elites.
"We need to remember that in those times, mineral water was a very precious load," said Cacaj. "It was often escorted by police or the army."
So what happens next?
Baltictech has already been in touch with the MARIS Foundation, Södertörn University and with Professor Johan Rönnby, who is in charge of all underwater research in Sweden.
Until matters of ownership and heritage have been resolved, the precious cargo will stay right where it is.
"It had been lying there for 170 years, so let it lie there one more year," said Stachura.
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