Ookflevoland

Ship wrecks

During the reclamation of Flevoland, hundreds of wrecks resurfaced. Flevoland was once the Zuider Zee and a busy shipping route. Thousands of ships arrived and departed daily and numerous shipping disasters took place. Wrecks were found during the initial reclamation activities, sometimes ten or more a year. The polder turned out to be fill of them! Flevoland is one of the largest ‘dry’ ship graveyards in the world: no fewer than 435 wrecks and nearly 33,000 objects were found, dating from between 1200 and 1900. In the Netherlands, there is one single institution that is involved in ship archaeology only: RACM Lelystad. It is no coincidence that it is located in Flevoland. The work by the ship archaeological specialists can be seen there, and the results of their work are on display in the walled-in Nationaal Scheepsarcheologisch depot (National Ship Archaeological depot) and at the outdoor premises where two preserved wrecks are located: a 17th century beurtvaarder and ‘de Zeehond’, a Groningen tjalk (a boat with a typical sprit sail) that was lost in 1886.
One of the most magnificent examples of preservation can be seen at the Nieuw Land Erfgoedcentrum, where the large wreck of a ventjager (fish transport ship) was included in a presentation about ship archaeology. This ship was lost in about 1710 and was discovered near the village of Swifterbant in 1961. The map ‘Vergane schepen op nieuw land’ (Lost ships on new land), which includes 400 sites of ship remains and an accompanying bicycle route map, are available at Nieuwland.
Nieuw Land, RACM and the adjoining Bataviawerf revive the ‘sailing life’ of the past.