A wreck from the 15th century with a cargo worth €50million has been discovered in the Baltic Sea!

An international team of divers led by Rauno Koivusaari from Finland found a wreck in the Baltic Sea from 1468. The vessel is very unique, not only because of its age. The ship is very unique, not only because of its age, but also because of the extremely valuable cargo located under the deck.

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Hanneke Wrome – this was the name of the ship which, at the end of November 1468, together with three other ships, set off from Lübeck in Germany to Stockholm and then, accompanied by only one ship, to Tallinn.

The wreck, measuring approximately 30m, was located south of the Finnish island of Jussarö. The remains lie at a depth of 8-22m.

Unfortunately, on 20 November 1468 both ships encountered a powerful storm on their way, which Wrome did not survive. In this, one of the biggest disasters of the time, all of the approximately 200 people on board perished.

In its holds it carried, besides small quantities of various goods, a large cargo of fabrics and 1,200 barrels of unprocessed honey, as well as… 10,000 gold coins whose current value is estimated at €50 million! Part of the cargo was recovered shortly after the sinking, but for many years afterwards the waves threw ashore the remains of the Hanneke Wrome tragedy.

The vessel itself was said to have had a very unusual design and was exceptionally tall. To date, not much information has survived regarding this construction. It is possible that the next survey, scheduled for the summer, will provide more answers on this issue as well.

“There is definitely a keel, a mast and an anchor that sticks up from the bottom. The anchor is very vulnerable, it’s exactly the type used on Hanseatic ships” – explains Koivusaari

Rauno Koivusaari is one of the most prominent figures in Finnish diving and underwater archaeology. His achievements include the discovery of the Dutch wreck of the Vrouw Maria in 1999. He has gathered divers from Finland, Sweden and Chile around him.

Source: china.org.cn Photo:Rauno Koivusaari, Ari Kapanen