A 19th-century shipwreck lying beneath the Baltic Sea may have been carrying a lavish cargo intended for the Russian imperial court, including more than 100 bottles of champagne, wine, mineral water and porcelain. Divers from the Polish group Baltictech discovered the wreck off Sweden’s Öland island after initially mistaking it for a fishing boat. The clay bottles of Selters mineral water helped date the vessel to between 1850 and 1867, while the nature of the cargo has raised the possibility that it was bound for Tsar Nicholas I. Baltictech leader Tomasz Stachura said the mineral water was once an exclusive product associated with royal tables and suggested the ship may have been travelling towards Stockholm or St Petersburg. The theory remains unconfirmed, but it gains historical context from research into other Baltic shipwreck champagne, which found that Russian customers preferred particularly sweet wines. The wreck’s remarkably preserved cargo offers researchers a rare glimpse into 19th-century trade and luxury consumption. Archaeologists are now examining the bottles, porcelain and other artefacts to determine more about the vessel’s origin, destination and the people who may have ordered its valuable cargo.
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