Divers explore the wreck of a Dutch sailing ship from 1740

Dutch and English underwater archaeologists are slowly completing the exploration of the wreck of the 17th century sailing ship “Rooswijk”, scheduled for 5-15 September. The vessel, which belonged to the Dutch East India Company, sank with a huge cargo of silver in January 1740 off the coast of Britain, in the shallows known as Goodwin Sands.

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The sailing shipwreck was discovered by accident in 2004 by an amateur diver. “Rooswijk” rests at a depth of 24 metres, at the north-western end of the site known as Kellett Gut, near Dover. In December 2005, the public was informed that between May and September of that year, a survey and exploration of the wreck had been carried out. Information was also given on the recovery of fragments of the vessel and its cargo.

The exploration was led by lawyer and renowned British shipwreck explorer Rex Cowan. During the exploration led by Cowan’s team, about a thousand silver bars, hundreds of different silver coins and… a jar of mustard were taken up from the bottom. The whole affair was kept secret so as not to attract looters and people interested in illegal extraction of the valuable cargo, due to the short distance from the shore and shallow depth.

The whole operation aroused a lot of controversy among heritage conservation circles around the world. It was about ignoring and failing to comply with various basic principles enshrined in documents such as the 1992 Valletta Treaty and the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage. On 18 January 2007, the wreck was placed under protection and a total ban on diving within 150 metres.

The current work is being carried out under the aegis of the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands and Historic England. The team of Rex Cowan, who carried out a partial exploration in 2005, is also involved.

The main objective of the underwater archaeologists is to gain a better understanding of the location where the wreck rests, to learn as much as possible about the construction of the sailing ship and to examine the state of preservation of the materials on the bottom. This is all to help determine what action will be taken in the future to secure the wreck. Depending on the findings and what is found, it will also be decided whether more detailed work will be carried out on the wreck in the future.

“We are very pleased to be able to work with our Dutch colleagues and the first team to explore the site. Wrecks such as the Rooswijk are part of Europe’s shared cultural heritage and it is very important that we are able to work together to ensure such sites are properly protected, known and safeguarded so that they can be known and appreciated by people.” – Duncan Wilson, Executive Director of Historic England, said.

Earlier this year, a geophysical survey using various technologies was carried out so that archaeologists could create a picture of the wreck and its immediate surroundings.

“Rooswijk” was built in 1737 in Amsterdam, commissioned by the Dutch East India Company. The 45-metre sailing ship was returning from what is now Indonesia with a valuable cargo of silver bars and coins. Unfortunately, in January 1740, caught in a huge storm, it sank off the coast of Great Britain in the area of Goodwin Sands, also known as “the swallower of ships”. All 300 people on board died.

Source: culturalheritageagency.nl, historicengland.org.uk, wikipedia.org