Global General
12 centuries-old shipwrecks found in Baltic Sea
(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-03-10 02:16
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STOCKHOLM - A dozen centuries-old shipwrecks - some of them unusually well-preserved - have been found in the Baltic Sea by a gas company building an underwater pipeline between Russia and Germany.
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 In this image released by Nord Stream on Tuesday March 9, 2010 shows the wheel of a 18th or 19th century sailing ship seen in the waters of the Baltic Sea. [Agencies] |
The oldest wreck probably dates back to medieval times and could be up to 800 years old, while the others are likely from the 17th to 19th centuries, Peter Norman of Sweden's National Heritage Board said Tuesday.
"They could be interesting, but we have only seen pictures of their exterior. Many of them are considered to be fully intact. They look very well-preserved," Norman told The Associated Press.
Thousands of wrecks - from medieval ships to warships sunk during the world wars of the 20th century - have been found in the Baltic Sea, which doesn't have the ship worm that destroys wooden wrecks in saltier oceans.
The latest discovery was made during a search of the seabed east of the Swedish island of Gotland by the Nord Stream consortium, which is building a 750-mile (1,200-kilometer) pipeline in the Baltic Sea.
The 12 wrecks were found in a 30-mile-long and 2-mile-wide (48-kilometer-long and 1.2 kilometer-wide) corridor, Nord Stream spokeswoman Tora Leifland Holmstrom said.
The heritage board said three of the wrecks have intact hulls and are lying upside-down at a depth of 430 feet (130 meters).
Swedish marine archaeology experts analyzed pictures of the wrecks and determined that they could be of a high historic value.
