A Dutch two-masted merchantman that left Amsterdam in September 1771 carrying art bought for Catherine the Great and never reached Saint Petersburg. She lies at about 41 metres in the outer archipelago off Nagu, found in 1999 after decades of searching, and is closely guarded now: a camera-watched protection zone, no anchoring, and diving only by permit.
Where it is and how deep
59.7744° N, 21.7860° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
This is not a dive you turn up for. The wreck lies in the outer archipelago of Nagu, 11 kilometres south-east of the island of Jurmo, inside a circular protection zone about 1.5 kilometres across centred on the Namnlösan skerry. Cameras watch it continuously, anchoring inside the zone is forbidden unless a ship in danger is being rescued, and diving on the site is licensed. Permission is the first thing to arrange.
Below the boat is 41 metres of cold water, so the profile is a short one: down the line, a limited spell on the ship, then a slow ascent. What is down there is a wooden two-masted merchant ship that has been on the bottom since 1771 and was still in good condition when she was found in 1999, which is the reason the site is handled as archaeology rather than as an attraction.
The Finnish National Board of Antiquities is responsible for the ship and for all recovery efforts, and the surveillance, the anchoring ban and the permit conditions all follow from that. Divers who get down there are working inside that regime and on someone else's terms, which is worth knowing before the trip is planned around the wreck rather than around the permission to visit it.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Vrouw Maria
- Type
- Dutch wooden two-masted merchant ship
- Sunk
- 1771
- Cause
- Grounded twice and kept filling; the pump clogged with coffee beans from the cargo
- Lies
- Outer archipelago of Nagu, 11 km south-east of Jurmo, at about 41 m
Vrouw Maria sailed from Amsterdam on 5 September 1771 for Saint Petersburg, part of her cargo art objects bought for Catherine the Great. She ran aground twice on the way through the Finnish archipelago, kept taking on water, and her pump clogged with coffee beans from the cargo; English and Finnish accounts date the sinking to 9 and 8 October respectively, after a grounding on 3 October. Attempts to find her failed for decades until 28 June 1999, when a diving group led by Rauno Koivusaari, working through the Pro Vrouw Maria association, located the wreck.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Off-season | Off-season |
Season follows Gulf of Finland: Jun–Sep is the open-water season; ice diving runs Feb–Apr, and the gulf freezes hard enough most winters to stop boat access.
Know before you go
- Forty-one metres in cold water leaves a hard bottom time. Plan a conservative profile with gas held back for a slow ascent, and treat any delay at depth as coming straight out of that margin.
- Anchoring inside the protection zone is forbidden except in a sea rescue, so the boat holds position while divers are down rather than lying to an anchor.
- At 41 metres in the northern Baltic there is little natural light left on the wreck. Carry a primary torch and a backup, and keep contact with the line.
Dive videos
First Dive On The Treasure Ship Vrouw Maria · Shipwreck Central TV on YouTube
Descend to Vrouw Maria (1771). Pt. 2 - Entering the main cargo hold · Rami Kokko on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is the Vrouw Maria?+
About 41 metres, on the bottom of the outer archipelago off Nagu, 11 kilometres south-east of Jurmo. That is a deep, cold dive with a short bottom time, and the site is permit-controlled rather than open to anyone who can reach it.
Can you dive the Vrouw Maria?+
Only with a permit. Diving on the site is licensed, the wreck is under continuous camera surveillance inside a protection zone about 1.5 kilometres across, and anchoring within that zone is forbidden except during the sea rescue of a vessel in danger.
What was the Vrouw Maria carrying?+
She left Amsterdam on 5 September 1771 bound for Saint Petersburg with art objects bought for Catherine the Great among her cargo, along with coffee, whose beans clogged the ship's pump as she filled and helped put her on the bottom.
Sources
- Vrouw Maria (English Wikipedia) — Wikipedia
- Vrouw Maria (Finnish Wikipedia) — Wikipedia
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