A 400-year old ship has been found in the Baltic Sea

Political Map of Gulf of Finland.
Political Map of Gulf of Finland. Image: NormanEinstein Wikimedia CC BY SA 3.0

Divers from Finland have accidentally uncovered a 400-year-old ship in the Baltic Sea. It was found just 85 meters below the surface.

A group of volunteer divers in Finland called the Badewanne Diving Team, stumbled across the ship while searching for WWI and WWII wrecks at the mouth of the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea.

The ship has only minor damage caused by a collision with a fishing trawler, with the hull is almost intact, but for a few planks missing. This type of ship was called Dutch ‘Fluit’ ships were in provenance in the late 16th to the mid-18th century and were a common sight in the Baltic trade. This ship had no guns but was capable of carrying a lot of cargo, and boasted advanced technical features for the time, enabling it to be piloted by a smaller crew than was typical.

Wooden wrecks can only survive in a few places in the world. Low salinity in the Baltic Sea, combined with absolute darkness and very low temperatures all year round, have protected this ‘Fluit’ ship from being destroyed by chemical, biochemical and biological decaying processes. Such conditions have also protected the ship from wood-boring organisms such as shipworm, who cannot live in such conditions.

Sourced from Euro News.

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