A 19th-century shipwreck is filled with Champagne bottles and Sweden won’t allow anyone a sip
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) - No one will be allowed to fish out any of the nearly 100 bottles of 19th-century Champagne and mineral water nestled in a shipwreck off southern Sweden without proper authorization, officials said Wednesday.
Though the wreck’s location has been known since 2016 and is registered in Sweden’s National Antiquities Office's cultural environment, it was only on July 11 that Polish scuba divers found the precious cargo.
The wreck, which sits at about 58 meters (190 feet) deep off the coast of the southern Sweden county of Blekinge, was found by the divers while they were checking spots of interest about 37 kilometers (20 nautical miles) south of the Swedish Baltic Sea island of Oeland.
Wine and water experts have quickly contacted the divers and been vying to carry out laboratory tests on the contents of the bottles, according to the divers’ leader, Tomasz Stachura. However, Swedish authorities have put their foot down and labeled the sunken ship "an ancient relic" which the county says requires "a clear and strong protection" to remain intact.