- Divers find a 400-year-old ship sitting at the bottom of the Baltic Sea.
- The 400-year-old ship has been a part of the trading empire, which made the Dutch a world super power.
- It is in such a good condition that no one could figure out how it ended up at the bottom of the sea.
- This type of ship is called a fluyt.
- Once widely popular, only a few are left in the world now. That is why the discovery of this particular ship is important.
400-Year-Old Sunken Ship In Almost Perfect Condition Found At The Bottom Of The Baltic Sea, writes Shreya Chauhan for the India Times.
The 400-year-old ship
The sinking of the ship seems to be a mystery to the experts because of its near perfect condition even after 400 years at the bottom of the Baltic Sea.
The fluyt could carry loads of cargo around the world with minimal crew.
“There are no hints for that [how it sank]. The hull is intact. It’s in the middle of the sea, so it didn’t run aground. Maybe it capsized in a storm, or the pumps were stuck and the ship got too much water in because of a leak. Or maybe the rigging was frozen and made the ship unstable. But we really don’t know,” LADBible quoted Jouni Polkko, from Badewanne (the diving team that found the vessel), said.
Damage assessment
There is only a small bit of damage and even the cause of that is thought to be by trawler netting over the years. This would imply that the ship was in a great condition when it sank.
For Juha Flinkman, a member of the diving team, the discovery was a ”great surprise”.
400-year old Fluyt ship and Dutch economy
- This fluyt family of ships seem to be fundamental in the rise of the Dutch as a strong economy.
- During the that time, they were very efficient vessels.
- This type of ship that practically all Dutch explorers used.
- For instance, Willem Barents in the Arctic, and those who went to Australia and Asia.
More details about the ship are awaited.
Did you subscribe to our daily newsletter?
It’s Free! Click here to Subscribe!
Source: India Times
