Finland: The European significance of the wreck site of the Vrouw Maria

The Baltic Sea has traditionally been the most important trade route in Northern Europe and a way for cultural influences to spread from one country to another. The navigation and trade system in Europe was quite uniform at the end of the 18th century; the routes for transporting goods, money, and know-how were established in the course of time. In this network of merchant routes, there were several centres, and Holland and especially Amsterdam were among the most essential ones. Vrouw Maria was a part of the European merchant shipping of the end of the 18th century. Vrouw Maria represents the change in the trading on the Baltic Sea, where the merchantmen began to use smaller ships. Smaller vessels could use different routes occasionally, and the cargos in these ships consisted of a variety of goods. The route to Russian capitol, St. Petersburg, was used frequently, and several wreckings of ships from many countries occurred by the Finnish coastline. Preserving this European underwater cultural heritage is an essential task for those authorities that are responsible for maritime heritage.

Vrouw Maria is extremely well preserved. Lower parts of the masts are still standing. Other parts of the rigging are laying next to the hull. The hull is almost intact and it has protected the cargo that fills the hold of the ship.