Last year, volunteer divers with the international non-profit organization Badewanne found a unique, exceptionally well-preserved shipwreck at a depth of 85 meters from the bottom of the Baltic Sea between the Hanko Peninsula in Finland and Hiiumaa in Estonia.
The diving team also found a wooden transom-vertical reinforcement that reinforces the wreck of the boat from the wreck of a ship believed to be a Dutch sailing ship known as a “ fluit ” or “ fluyt ” ”.
This summer, divers managed to turn the transom, which was face down on the seabed, to reveal an engraving for 1636 next to a picture of a swan that is supposed to represent the name of the ship.
The story continues after the picture.
Diver Jouni Polkko told Yle that only 20 minutes per dive have been set aside for research work, but each trip lasts a full day.
"It takes two and a half hours to reach the surface from this depth," Polkko said.
By Niklas Eriksson, A maritime archaeologist at Stockholm University who specializes in kites, the ships were identified at the time based on data engraved on the transom. Copies of the transom have been found in marine archaeological research in the past, but this is the first time, according to Eriksson, that all transom information is available.
"Further investigations are likely to reveal a coat of arms showing the ship’s home port," Eriksson said.
The real reason for the sinking of the ship may never be clear, Polkko said, noting that there are a couple of manual water pumps on the deck deck. This suggests that the crew may not have had time to pump water fast enough.
"At that time, grain was transported in the hold of the ships. If a lot of water gets in, it can clog the pumps," Polkko explained.
The story continues after the picture.
Fluits were three-masted sailing vessels used by the Dutch merchant navy, with which the country controlled maritime traffic in the Baltic Sea from the early 17th to the mid-18th century. In Baltic shipping, flits usually sail unarmed so that they could carry as much cargo as possible with a small crew.
Badewanneโs diving team continues to study the history of the wreck alongside marine archaeologists Minna Koivikko From the Finnish Cultural Office and Martijn Manders From the Netherlands Heritage Agency and Eriksson from Stockholm University.
Based on the new information, Manders said it may be possible to find out the identity of the shipโs last crew.
"Flitti demonstrates a typical Dutch approach to shipbuilding and symbolizes the successful merchant shipping of the era," Manders said.
Documentary, "Fluit", is also in production and trying to figure out the final fate of the ship.
Source: The Nordic Page