PREVIEW

A team of Polish divers have discovered a shipwreck with a very special cargo - champagne that may have been bound for a Tsar’s table.
Divers from Baltictech Team led by Tomasz Stachura made a remarkable discovery in the Baltic Sea off the Swedish coast, uncovering the 19th-century shipwreck brimming with historical treasures, including crates of champagne, baskets of mineral water and porcelain.
"The whole wreck is loaded to the brim with crates of champagne, mineral water, and procelane," said Tomasz Stachura, diver and leader of the Baltictech Team. The divers reported finding around 100 champagne and mineral water bottles among the items.
"I have been diving for 40 years, and it often happens that there is one bottle or two... but to discover a wreck with so much cargo, it's a first for me," Stachura added.
The discovery, made about 20 nautical miles (37 kilometers) south of the Swedish island of Öland, was largely a coincidence. The Polish divers had been combing the seabed for years in search of sunken ships.
Stachura explained: "We were just checking out new spots, which I had been collecting for years, out of pure curiosity, and that's when we came across this wreck. We did not expect it to be anything significant and even hesitated for a moment whether to dive at all. The divers: Marek Cacaj and Pawel Truszynski showed great determination and were the first to go down to check the wreck. "Stachura explained.
The discovery of sealed clay water bottles provided vital clues about the vessel's history. The group identified the bottles as Selters water, a German brand highly valued in the 19th century, often reserved for royal tables and considered almost medicinal.
"We managed to take pictures of the brand name stamped on a clay bottle, which turned out to be from the German company Selters – produces to this day. The logo had this precise shape during that period." Marek Cacaj – underwater videographer said. The divers estimate that the vessel capsized in the second half of the 19th century.
According to the team’s preliminary research, the ship may well have been en route to Russia and stocked with luxury items for Tsar Alexander II - including bottles from Louis Roederer, a renowned Reims, France champagne house founded in 1776.
The divers are currently seeking permission to extract some of the bottles and send them to the winemaker to assess their value and determine if the Champagne is still drinkable.
The recovery process is expected to be complex and time-consuming. The shipwreck is located approximately 20 nautical miles south of the Swedish island of Öland. Therefore, the divers must obtain authorization from Swedish authorities to bring the cargo ashore, as the wreck lies outside Polish territorial and economic waters.
The divers have notified Swedish regional authorities about the findings, but caution that extracting the champagne treasure will take time due to administrative restrictions.
"It had been lying there for 170 years, so let it lie there for one more year, and we will have time to better prepare for the operation," Stachura said.
The team is working with the MARIS Foundation, Södertörn University, and Professor Johan Rönnby, who oversees underwater research in Sweden. They are developing guidelines for future exploration of the wreck.
The group has also been actively searching for the Polish submarine ORP Orzel in the North Sea for years.