Vrouw Maria

HISTORY

Vrouw Maria was loaded with precious artefacts such as works of art belonging to Catherine The Great of Russia . The ship set sail from Amsterdam on September 5th 1771 for Saint Petersburg , its final destination. After a month of seafaring the ship was caught in an Autumn storm which caused the ship to run aground near the island of Jurmo. The rocks caused minor damage but right after that the ship ran aground again. As a result the rudder sheared off. The ship was released by a big wave and the crew noticed that the ship leaked very badly. The anchor was lowered and the crewmen tried to pump the ship empty of water. However, the pump was clogged with coffee beans. After a few days the ship sank and due to harsh conditions only a fraction of the cargo of the ship was salvaged. Captain Lourens and his crew then traveled to Turku .

AFTERMATH

Since then, various people tried to locate the wreck but none were successful until the organization Pro Vrouw Maria discovered it in 1999. Interest toward the ship rose in the 1970s when Dr. Christian Ahlström found documents regarding the incident from the national archives of Finland. He published his findings in a book called ''Sjunkna Skepp'' in 1979 .

The Cargo

The cargo was declared in Helsingør , Denmark on September 23rd . The cargo included Sugar , Fabric s and Dye s. The ship also carried precious works of art which Catherine the Great had bought from an auction in Amsterdam. The pieces belonged to Gerrit Braancamps , a Dutch art collector. The king of Denmark allowed them to Go Through Customs without any declaration. After the sinking of the ship the Swedish ambassador of St. Petersburg Carl Ribbing , the landlord of Turku and Pori baron Christopher Rabbe and the foreign minister of Russia Nikita Panin discussed the missing cargo but nothing further was done to save it. Only two of the paintings Catherine the Great bought are known by name.

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Vrouw Maria