Baltic History Beneath Surface: Underwater Heritage Trails In Situ and Online

The underwater landscape of the Baltic Sea is a unique ecological and cultural-historical environment resulting from the combination of a long seafaring history and good preservation conditions. The remains of shipwrecks in Estonian, Finnish and Swedish waters, many of them hundreds of years old, often sit upright with masts and rigging still intact. In this aspect, the Baltic Sea is a giant underwater museum waiting to be visited.

The project "Baltic History Beneath Surface: Underwater Heritage Trails In Situ and Online" aims to demonstrate the huge tourism potential of the underwater cultural heritage of the Baltic Sea by developing easy and convenient ways for visiting our unique and well preserved underwater sites in situ.

The project will produce several new tourist attractions in the Baltic Sea that are supplied with buoys, underwater information boards and dive trails. With the creation of these tourist attractions the project aims to enhance the attractiveness of the Baltic Sea destinations and increase the number of visits to the region.

Expected results

The project will produce a joint tourist attraction consisting of different destinations that are supplied with buoys, underwater information boards and dive trails. There will be at least one joint tourist package including tourist destinations from all partner states, also the opportunity to develop individual packages through an interactive website. Within the project scope, the publications will be compiled to introduce the developed tourist attraction:

• Project leaflet in all project languages displaying the general information about the project, its objectives, and destinations to be developed.
• Publications (booklets) about Estonian, Finnish and Swedish sites.
• A collection of articles provided by the project partners on the process and results of the project.
• A handbook on how to build and manage a dive park.

As an innovative solution, an interactive website about the diving destinations in the region will be developed. The website will contain information on the developed attractions and what is needed to know for travelling.

In addition to sample packages, the divers will be able to put together an individual package through the website, which will comply with the interests and training of the diver.

Project partners

• Estonian National Heritage Board (Lead Partner) (EE);
• Adrianto Ltd (EE);
• Haninge Municipality (SE);
• National Board of Antiquities (FI);
• NGO West-Estonia Tourism (EE);
• Swedish National Maritime Museums (SE);
• Aalto Group Ltd (FI).