Divers from Poland’s Baltitech group, which specializes in exploring shipwrecks lying on the Baltic seabed, came across the bottles alongside baskets of mineral water while exploring the sunken sailing ship off the coast of Sweden.

Posting on their website, Baltitech’s Tomasz Stachura said the ship was “loaded to the sides with champagne, wine, porcelain and mineral water.

“There was so much of it that it was difficult to estimate the quantities.

“We certainly saw over 100 bottles of champagne and baskets of mineral water in clay bottles.”

Although the type of wine and champagne still needs to be identified, Stachura said the mineral water was equally as exciting.

He said: “In those times, mineral water was treated almost like medicine and only found its way to royal tables.

“It was so valuable that transports were escorted by the police. We came across about 100 sealed bottles of Selters water.

“This is a German factory that still exists today, and its products are still considered exquisite.

“Thanks to the shape of the stamp and the help of historians, we know that our transport was produced between 1850-1867.”

He added that the shipwreck, around 20 nautical miles south of the Swedish island of Öland, may have sunk because of the weight of its cargo and the possibility of it being caught in a storm.

He said: “It is a small, 16-meter sailing ship. It is striking that it is poor in relation to the cargo it has.

“Perhaps the owner bought cargo in Copenhagen and headed north towards Stockholm, hoping for the deal of a lifetime.”