Wrecks & Archaeology

The Swedish Coast Guard apprehended the divers in July 2020, as they were found retrieving artifacts from a wreck off the Baltic island of Öland. A subsequent house search uncovered a large number of objects, which were suspected to originate from wrecks classified as protected. Among the objects was an iron cannon dated to the 17th century.

The indictment includes ten charges for incidents during a number of dives that took place from 2013 to 2020. Two of the men stand charged on all counts. 

At present, the dedication event at Gunwharf Quay is provisionally pencilled for Friday, 15 July 2022. The summer date has been chosen, because it is anticipated that Covid-19 will be less of an issue. That being the case, it is hoped that current and former Royal Navy Clearance Divers will be allowed to take part in this important occasion. 

Wisconsin Historical Society maritime archaeologists recovered a historic dugout wood canoe from the bottom of Lake Mendota in the US state of Wisconsin yesterday, just a few months after learning of its existence in June 2021. The canoe is a remarkable artifact, made from a single tree.

The England-based conference features presentations from around the world on shipwrecks, maritime archaeology and treasure. 

Vrak – Museum of Wrecks is a new museum about the Baltic Sea’s unique wrecks and cultural heritage, and a sister museum to the Vasa Museum in Stockholm. Nowhere else in the world are there as many well-preserved shipwrecks as in the Baltic Sea.

Vrak brings their stories to the surface while leaving the wrecks themselves and their objects on the seafloor where they are best preserved. The new museum serves as a hub for wrecks, new discoveries and research throughout the Baltic Sea region. 

Badewanne originally discovered the wreck last year at the depth of 85m. This summer, during the filming of the documentary film Fluit, the dive team found the transom of the exceptionally well-preserved wreck.

As the divers succeeded in turning over the transom, which was lying face down on the seabed, an engraving with the year 1636 was revealed, along with an image of a swan. The swan is presumed to represent the name of the ship. The divers also took measurements of the wreck to determine the accurate size of the vessel.

A prolonged period of sunshine and calm seas over the summer has led to an increase in the numbers of people visiting the historic wrecks which lie off Northern Ireland's shore.

Of the 340 known ship and plane wrecks within Northern Irish waters, only two have special levels of protection;  La Girona, a warship of the Spanish Armada which sank near Portballintrae in 1588, and HMS Drake, a WW1 cruiser that was torpedoed by a German U-Boat in 1917 and sank in Rathlin Bay.

A short history