Sweden

Russian submarine Beluga.

Russian mini-sub found in Swedish waters is 100 years old

Sweden's military has now analyzed the video footage provided by Swedish wreckhunter group Ocean X Team and concluded that it is the wreck of a Russian submarine that sank after a collision with a Swedish vessel in 1916 during the First World War. Ocean X was the team who also found the "Baltic anomali"

Utö Mines: Exploring 150-year-old Mines in Sweden

Diver places a cookie, 74m, in Stjernheim’s shaft. Photo by Anders Etander
Diver places a cookie at an intersection to show the way out, at a water depth of 74m in Stjernheim’s shaft. Photo by Anders Etander

The desire for adventure lies in wait and entices us… On Utö, there was an unexplored mine system. Follow Anders Etander down into the darkness, where the “In Water Under Land” exploration group had the privilege of diving in a place that has been untouched for 150 years.

Ă„pplet, port side by lower gundeck
Ă„pplet, port side by lower gundeck

Vasa's sister ship discovered

Launched in 1629, Applet (Apple) was built by the same shipbuilder as the famed 69-metre Vasa, which was carrying 64 cannons when it went down in a strait off the island of Vaxholm, just outside the capital, Stockholm. Vasa was meant to serve as a symbol of Sweden’s military might at the time but capsized after sailing just over 1,000 metres. It was salvaged in 1961 and is on display at the Vasa Museum in Stockholm, one of Sweden’s most popular tourist spots.

Video file
A cog typical of Hansa ships in the 13th century. Illustration by Willy Stöwer after impressions from a seal of the city of Elbing
A cog typical of Hansa ships in the 13th century. Illustration by Willy Stöwer after impressions from a seal of the city of Elbing

Rare centuries-old wreck found on Sweden’s western coast

Interview and text by Mimo Moqvist
Translation edited by G. Symes

“Yes, it is actually a slightly special story. We were really looking for a completely different wreck, from the 16th century. As early as 2005, I got in touch with a man whose father had found a wreck outside Dyngö when he was fishing for trout,” said von Arbin.

The father who found the wreck was no longer alive, but the son tipped off von Arbin about the find and told him that he had material that von Arbin and his team could see.

Hudson Plane Wreck: WWII Light Bomber in Sweden's Gullmarsfjord

Historical photo of the Lockheed Hudson Mark III aircraft, before conversion to carrier

There are not many wrecks in the fjord of Gullmarn. What wrecks there are here should, of course, be slightly inaccessible, at a depth of 64m. For a long time, our dive team had talked about going down to the Hudson plane hidden in the fjord. Now, the wait was finally over

Smögen Photo Week in Sweden in July

Grand Prize, Dive Environment category: Rikard Godlund
Grand Prize, Dive Environment category: Rikard Godlund

A new photo competition has taken root on the western coast of Sweden, where local and international participants enjoy an exciting week of shooting underwater in Smögen, competing for attractive prizes. One of the contest’s organisers, Annika Malmberg, shares the story of the event, from the initial idea to the final result, as well as plans for its future.

(File photo) Swedish Coast guard apprehended divers in the process of plundering protected shipwrecks.

Four divers charged with systematic plunder of protected wrecks in the Baltic

The Swedish Coast Guard apprehended the divers in July 2020, as they were found retrieving artifacts from a wreck off the Baltic island of Ă–land. A subsequent house search uncovered a large number of objects, which were suspected to originate from wrecks classified as protected. Among the objects was an iron cannon dated to the 17th century.

The indictment includes ten charges for incidents during a number of dives that took place from 2013 to 2020. Two of the men stand charged on all counts. 

A model of the Bremer cog
A model of the Bremer cog

800-year-old shipwreck found off Sweden's West Coast

“The wreck is made from oak, cut between 1233 and 1240, so nearly 800 years ago,” said Staffan von Arbin, a maritime archaeologist at the University of Gothenburg.

Dyngökoggen

Last autumn, the University of Gothenburg conducted archaeological diving inspections along the coast of Bohuslän to find out more about known wrecks on the seafloor. It was during this work that the maritime archaeologists came upon the wreck outside of Fjällbacka, which has been given the name “Dyngökoggen.”

Museum of Wrecks opens in Stockholm

Vrak – Museum of Wrecks is a new museum about the Baltic Sea’s unique wrecks and cultural heritage, and a sister museum to the Vasa Museum in Stockholm. Nowhere else in the world are there as many well-preserved shipwrecks as in the Baltic Sea.

Vrak brings their stories to the surface while leaving the wrecks themselves and their objects on the seafloor where they are best preserved. The new museum serves as a hub for wrecks, new discoveries and research throughout the Baltic Sea region. 

Exhibition at Vrak - Museum of Wrecks in Stockholm
In the exhibition "Resande man", visitors walk around on a carpet with a reproduction of the wreck in 1:1 scale. Photo by Anneli Karlsson / Vrak – Museum of Wrecks/SMTM

 

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Stern of the wreck. The stern post ends to opening in planking, tiller moved in it. The transom has been above this structure. Uppermost planks on the sides of the stern have fallen away.
Stern of the wreck. The stern post ends to opening in planking, tiller moved in it. The transom has been above this structure. Uppermost planks on the sides of the stern have fallen away.

The age of a unique fluit in the Baltic Sea resolved

Badewanne originally discovered the wreck last year at the depth of 85m. This summer, during the filming of the documentary film Fluit, the dive team found the transom of the exceptionally well-preserved wreck.

As the divers succeeded in turning over the transom, which was lying face down on the seabed, an engraving with the year 1636 was revealed, along with an image of a swan. The swan is presumed to represent the name of the ship. The divers also took measurements of the wreck to determine the accurate size of the vessel.