Centuries-Old Ship Unearthed in The Baltic!

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credit: Hindustan times

Divers salvaged 400-year-old shipwreck in southwestern Baltic Sea. Scientists hope the wreck will give insight into Lübeck’s role at center of Hanseatic League says Hindustan Times.

The wreck, which lay 11 meters (36 feet) below the surface, was coincidentally discovered during routine surveying by the regional Water and Shipping Office (WSA) and made public in July 2022.“We have found more than we had hoped and are already able to draw a number of conclusions as to the cargo and equipment of the Hanseatic ship,” said Felix Rösch, who heads the project.

Cargo Fire 

Archaeologist Rösch said black marks on some of the cargo found with the mid-sized sailing ship suggest it may have sunk as the result of fire. “There was apparently a larger fire on deck. There are about 170 barrels down there, they’ll be hauled out over the next few days,” said Rösch.

  • Rösch added that water seeping into the barrels could have caused a chemical reaction, generating intense heat that eventually led to a fire.
  • Crews excavating the ship are vacuuming sediment from the sea bed to uncover its remains layer by layer.
  • Pieces brought to the surface are then being taken to a warehouse in Lübeck to be cleaned and documented.
Scientists say it is possible that the find is related to a 1680 shipwreck mentioned in documents stored in the city’s archives.

The Hanseatic League derived from the Old High German “Hanse,” meaning band was a commercial and defensive confederation of European cities and city-states that began in northern Germany in the 12th century.

Hanseatic League’s Legacy

At its height, the League stretched from Novgorod in modern-day Russia, to London. Hansa members traded in what are now Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Sweden, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium, with Lübeck at its centre.

The discovery of the Americas and the rise of transatlantic trade signalled the wane of the confederation and the loss of the London Steelyard in the Great Fire of London in 1666 generally marks its disintegration.

This was established by EU finance ministers from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Sweden in February of 2018.

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Source: Hindustan Times