A 17th century Swedish Navy shipwreck buried underwater in central Stockholm for 400 years has suddenly become visible due to unusually low Baltic Sea levels, marking the latest centuries-old vessel to be found in the country’s waters.
The wooden planks of the ship’s well-preserved hull have since early February been peeking out above the surface of the water off the island of Kastellholmen, providing a clear picture of its skeleton.
“We have a shipwreck here, which was sunk on purpose by the Swedish Navy,” Jim Hansson, a marine archeologist at Stockholm’s Vrak – Museum of Wrecks, told AFP.
Hansson said experts believe that after serving in the navy, the ship was sunk around 1640 to use as a foundation for a new bridge to the island of Kastellholmen.
Archeologists have yet to identify the exact ship, as it is one of five similar wrecks lined up in the same area to form the bridge, all dating from the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
“This is a solution, instead of using new wood you can use the hull itself, which is oak” to build the bridge, Hansson said.
“We don’t have shipworm here in the Baltic that eats the wood, so it lasts, as you see, for 400 years,” he said, standing in front of the wreck.
Jonathan NACKSTRAND /AFP via Getty Images
Parts of the ship had already broken the surface in 2013, but never before has it been as visible as it is now, as the waters of the Baltic Sea reach their lowest level in about 100 years, according to the archaeologist.
“There has been a really long period of high pressure here around our area in the Nordics. So the water from the Baltic has been pushed out to the North Sea and the Atlantic,” Hansson explained.
A research program dubbed “the Lost Navy” is underway to identify and precisely date the large number of Swedish naval shipwrecks lying on the bottom of the Baltic.
Several wrecks and relics have been found in the region in recent years.
In April 2024, researchers exploring an ancient shipwreck off the coast of Sweden discovered centuries-old artifacts, including a weapons chest and pieces of armor.
In July 2024, a team of divers discovered a massive haul of champagne and wine on a shipwreck on the floor of the Baltic Sea off Sweden. The precious cargo was later declared off limits by the government.
In October 2022, Swedish maritime archaeologists discovered the long-lost sister vessel of the iconic 17th-century warship Vasa, which sank on its maiden voyage. The Vasa has been on display in Stockholm since the 1960s after being salvaged from the ocean floor.
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