A diver from Antwerp province has recovered a bottle of Guinness from the wreck of a ship that sank off the coast of Dover in 1864. The bottle is attracting international attention, and both Guinness and KU Leuven are keen to examine it.
Culture
Belgian diver retrieves Guinness from 19th-century shipwreck
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Stef Panis discovered the wooden shipwreck, the Mindoro, 12 years ago at a depth of 25m. Last year, he found a crate of bottles there. “This bottle caught my eye because, like a bottle of champagne, it had a sort of cover over the top,” says Panis.
The bottle is labelled “Guinness London”. It used to be common practice to send the beer in casks from Ireland to other destinations – including London – to be bottled locally and shipped out.
The bottle caught the attention of a professor of microbiology at KU Leuven, who specialises in beer. He wishes to carry out research into its contents and possibly analyse the DNA. Guinness itself is also keen to analyse the beer in the lab. This requires two additional bottles on each occasion.
It’s a journey back in time, so to speak, when you dive down to the wreck
Panis and his team had wanted to retrieve extra bottles two weeks ago, but conditions prevented them. “Due to the easterly winds, visibility was completely gone and was only a few centimetres at the wreck,” he explains. A new expedition is planned in two weeks’ time.
To ensure everything is carried out legally, Panis submitted an application to the Receiver of Wreck, the official UK body responsible for shipwrecks.
The wreck itself is a wooden sailing ship that was travelling to Vancouver. Lying on the seabed are utensils, cutlery, plates and bottles, containing wine, beer and gin. Rifle buckles and army belts are also on board.
“There was a regiment of the British Army stationed there, and they had supplies on board for that purpose,” Panis says. “It’s a journey back in time, so to speak, when you dive down to the wreck.”
