Åland Islands · Finland · Wreck
Balder
Wooden sailing ship standing intact at 65 m, helm upright on the aft deck
The Balder was a wooden sailing ship built in 1922 at Lemland on Åland, 45 m long and 11 m wide, and lost only six years later in a storm in 1928. It now stands upright and intact at 65 m, probably one of the best-preserved wooden wrecks in the Baltic.
Where it is and how deep
No published position for this site — the map shows Åland Islands and its other sites; operators know the mooring.
The dive
The masts snapped when the Balder grounded, and the bowsprit broke as the ship went to the bottom bow first. Beside the fallen aft mast, the balustrade that separated the cargo area from the crew area still stands, with the steps down into the cabin in place. The aft deck holds the main helm, upright and intact, with the bell on the deck nearby, and the forward accommodation still has chairs, trestles, bottles and the remains of the navigation lamps. A hard sand bottom keeps the visibility around the wreck above 10 m.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Balder
- Type
- Wooden sailing ship
- Length
- 45 m (148 ft)
- Built
- 1922
- Sunk
- 1928
- Cause
- Ran onto a shoal by Flöttjan lighthouse in a storm, capsized and sank
- Lies
- Upright and intact at 65 m
The Balder sailed from Kiel on 10 October 1928 with a cargo of coke for Mäntyluoto in Finland. In a full autumn storm the Flöttjan light had gone out, so the light the crew steered for was Lågskär, and the ship ran onto a shoal by Flöttjan, capsized and sank in less than 15 minutes. Four of the crew died; the survivors drifted for eleven hours before landing on Eckerö. The wreck was found in the autumn of 2001.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Off-season | Off-season | Off-season | Off-season | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Fair | Off-season | Off-season | Off-season |
Season follows Åland Islands: Boats run from May to mid-September, with August the warmest month; nothing runs from October to April.
Know before you go
- On an August dive the water below 40 m was 4–5 °C, against 14 °C from the surface to about 12 m.
Dive videos
Balder · BUE Baltic Underwater Explorers on YouTube
Sources
- Balder – Divealand — Divealand
- Wreck diver: Åland — Divernet
- Wrecks of Åland — The Baltic Sea (itameri.fi)
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