Origin of champagne wreck shrouded in mystery

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The origin of the “champagne wreck” found in the sea off Åland in late July remains a mystery.
      Divers have been to the sunken vessel three times, but no new information has been revealed on the history of the ship.
      Marine archaeologist Marcus Lindholm will not say anything for sure until the place where the ship was built is ascertained.
      “Then the owner and the year that it was built will probably also be revealed.”
      He feels is fairly optimistic the ship can be identified, as documentation of vessels in the Nordic Countries has been fairly meticulous for centuries.
     
Lindholm is willing to make some educated guesses.
      It could be a Nordic sailing ship which sank in the early part of the 19th century while en route from Gdansk or Copenhagen to the Gulf of Finland when it hit a reef.
     
One possible name has even been put forward. The Pori-based Gustaf is known to have gone down while en route from Copenhagen to Finland in 1805.
      The ship would have had a crew of six or seven, whose personal effects are still at the bottom of the wreck.
      “They could provide much information about the lives of seamen at the time."
     
When the wreck was found, the focus of news items was that the world’s oldest champagne had been discovered off Åland.
      There is no certainty of this. Wine experts believe that the bottles date back to the first decades of the 19th century, but to really be the oldest, it would have had to be produced before 1825.
     
Lindholm feels that the champagne discovery has overshadowed that of the wreck itself, which he considers a much more important find.
      “Its scientific value is immeasurable.”
      This is not to say that the champagne is not a valuable treasure. If it really proves to be the oldest in the world, and drinkable, one bottle would be worth as much as EUR 50,000.
     
Salvaging the rest is somewhat urgent, as the hull of the ship is very fragile. In a few years it would have broken up on its own.
      Adding to the urgency is the upcoming autumn, which usually brings windy conditions, as well as the danger of theft - even though the Finnish coast guard is monitoring the area.
      The aim is to make the last of the dives in August and September, at which time the rest of the objects are to be brought to the surface.
     
The enthusiasm surrounding the discovery of the sunken vessel was initially accompanied by an odd public dispute, when the Åland Maritime Historical Society accused Christian Ekström, who brought one of the champagne bottles to the surface, of stealing the information on the wreck’s location from them. Ekström says that he got the hint for the location from a local fisherman.
      Allegations of lying, bad behaviour, and childishness flew both ways. Now Ekström downplays the controversy.
      “I didn’t even find the champagne on my own. I did it with my diving team. I simply gave a public face to the discovery.”
     
He sees no point in arguing about it, as the wreck is officially the property of the Province of Åland in any case.
      He would like to see the focus shift to how Åland might use the discovery to its benefit.
      He also recalls the taste of the first bottle:
      “It was first-class. You could taste the oak and dry fruit.”


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Dispute brewing over actual finder of champagne bottles in Baltic Sea (3.8.2010)
  Cache of champagne in Baltic Sea is larger than believed (2.8.2010)

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