The wreck uncovered near Leba has been identified.

Research conducted by specialists from the Polish Maritime Museum in Gdansk on a wreck uncovered by the sea in December east of Leba has come to an end.

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Iwona Pomian and her colleagues have been studying the construction of the wreck for two days. They also took samples of wood for dendronological tests, on the basis of which it should be possible to establish the age of the vessel. Museum workers were informed about the find by the Border Guard, who came across the remains of the wreck during a routine patrol.

As Iwona Pomian, head of the department of underwater archaeology, said, this location was known to the workers of the museum already in the 90s of the last century, but only now the sea has uncovered a 50-metre fragment. Before it happened, it was estimated that these were the remains of a 20-metre-long 19th-century fishing boat.

One of Łeba’s residents has provided researchers, through the Maritime Office in Słupsk, with photos of a similar sized vessel that crashed near Łeba. Exactly 90 years ago, in January 1921, the barge “Oldenfelde” may have fallen ashore during a storm. The barge, loaded with timber, was being towed from Gdansk to Bremen. Scientists will investigate whether the remains found are those of the ‘Oldenfelde’.

Archaeologists will not excavate the skeleton for the time being. For the next few months it will remain an attraction for people walking on the beach. Thecost of excavating the wreck from the beach is so high that we cannot finance this undertaking at the moment, but we will make every effort to ensure that it is not destroyed,” said Andrzej Strzechmiński, the mayor of Łeba. Wiktor Tyburski, the starost of the Lębork poviat, assured that the poviat budget would include funds for the rescue of the find.

source: gazetakaszubska.pl