The Ghost Ship was accidentally discovered in 2003 by a crew searching for a Swedish plane shot down in WWII on the Baltic Sea. A full-scale archaeological expedition was launched in 2010, and soon the researchers were able to confirm that the ship was built around 1650.
In May 2010 the survey and research vessel Ice Beam was fitted for the first full scale archaeological expedition, which successfully measured the wreck and raised a man-size wooden sculpture from a depth of 130 meters/400 feet.
It is believed to be a type of Dutch ship known as a fluyt (a sailing cargo ship), probably built around 1650. It is 26 meters/80 feet long and 8 meters/25 feet wide. Its loading capacity is about 100 lasts (about 280 metric tons).
As the waters of the Baltic Sea have almost no tidal movement and the salinity is only 0.06-0.15%, shipworms are not able to inhabit it. That’s why the Baltic houses some of the most ancient and well-preserved vessels in the world.
Source: National Geographic Channel
