Last night, on 7–8 July, the second half of the Lootsi cog arrived at the Seaplane Harbour – the stern part and another middle part. The Estonian Maritime Museum will now commence work to display one of Europe’s largest ship wrecks in all its glory.
‘I thank every person who contributes to this great finding being displayed to everyone from the bottom of my heart. The wrecks of the Maasilinn ship and the Kadriorg cog exhibited in our museum have attracted visitors from all across Estonia and elsewhere for years. The larger and better preserved wreck of the Lootsi cog unlocks a new story about seafaring, but also about living conditions seven centuries ago. To highlight this, we are building a ship hangar in the Seaplane Harbour area, where we will preserve and exhibit the Lootsi cog. We will do our best to continuously monitor the progress of the upcoming works,’ said Urmas Dresen, Head of the Estonian Maritime Museum.
One of the largest medieval ship wrecks in Europe, which came to light during the construction of an office building on Lootsi Street, arrived at the Estonian Maritime Museum in Seaplane Harbour in two parts. On the night of 4–5 July, the bow part and the first middle part of the cog were transported, followed by the stern part and the second middle part of the wreck on the night of 7–8 July. The wreck was transported on the route 8 Lootsi – Ahtri – Mere pst – Põhja pst – Kalaranna – 6 Vesilennuki.
Today, July 8, starting at 2 p.m., the Estonian Maritime Museum will put a protective cover on the shipwreck and then continue the planned works.
Important facts about the Lootsi cog:
- the Lootsi cog is one of the largest medieval shipwrecks in Europe and the largest find of the last century in the world;
- the shipwreck was discovered in Tallinn, during the construction of the 8 Lootsi Street office building on 31 March 2022;
- type of the shipwreck is a cog – a single-masted ship common in the Baltic and North seas in the Middle Ages;
- the cog was built around the 1360s; the wreck is 24.5 metres long, 9 metres wide, 4 metres high and weighs 97,7 tonnes;
- the cog is well-preserved from the stern to the deck; the wreck was located approximately 1.5 metres below the surface;
- in addition to the wreck, several unique finds were discovered – for example, a metal compass with a wind rose and tar with the remains of ship rats;
- the cog was divided into four parts to transport it from the construction site to the museum, necessary preparations lasted a little longer than three months and it took 13 hours to transport all the parts;
- from 8 July 2022, the cog wreck will be located in the Seaplane Harbour area of the Estonian Maritime Museum, here it will be preserved and exhibited.
Photos (Eesti Meremuuseum/ Aron Urb):
- July 7-8
- July 5-6
