Tests are being carried out to see if the alcohol is still fit to drink.
"900 bottles of liquor found at sea, 9oo bottles of liquor.
Drink one down and pass it around, 899 bottles of liquor found at sea."
Ok, there are three things that we need to point out about that version of the classic drinking song.
1) It doesn't sound as good as the original. 2) Drinking 900 bottles of anything alcoholic in one sitting will probably kill you. 3) Our improvised lyrics are actually based on fact.
The Local Sweden have reported that divers have salvaged 900 bottles of rare French cognac and liqueur from a Swedish ship that sunk during World War I in the Baltic Sea.
The ship was carrying French cognac to Tzar Nicholas II's in Russia before it sunk in the Baltic Sea more than 100 years ago. The cargo has now been salvaged.
The Kyros left Sweden in May 1917 and was sunk in the Sea of Aland with an explosive charge. As it made it's journey off Åland island in the Baltic Sea, it was stopped and checked by German submarine UC-58, whose captain decided to sink the ship because the alcohol was considered an illegal contraband product.
The ship's crew survived and were transferred to another vessel. They later returned to Sweden.
Ocean X, a group that specialises in salvaging alcohol from shipwrecks, said it was now testing the recovered bottles to see if they're still fit to drink.
The group brought 600 bottles of cognac and 300 bottles of Benedictine - a herbal liqueur - to shore after recovering them from the wreck of the Kyros.
Bottles of the cognac, produced by a now-defunct distiller, and the Benedictine are being tested in a laboratory.
"The importance of this event cannot be overemphasised – it's not only a find of rare cognac and liqueur but also a part of history of the former imperial Russia," said the Ocean X Team in a statement.
We reckon the entire team of explorers deserve a drink. If only they had 900 bottles of booze somewhere?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYEuRGVw1Jg
Clip via Ocean X Team
