Nederland

Nederland (also written Nederlander) is a Dutch river barge that sank in 1917, lying at 20 metres depth near a skerry with a small lighthouse in the Åland archipelago, Baltic Sea. A barge built for inland waterways, it was sailed into the open Baltic and sank there — reportedly with a full cargo of street bricks — making its presence on the seabed an unusual one. The wreck lies roughly 70 metres from the sailing boat Caskelot, and the two sites are connected by a line that divers can follow underwater.

Entry is by boat. Conditions in the area can be demanding: swell can be significant enough to list a dive boat heavily and remain perceptible several metres below the surface. On the day described, mooring on a buoy was not possible and divers had to enter from a drifting vessel. Visibility at the site has been recorded at around 15 metres, consistent with generally good visibility noted for the area.

The wreck sits at a maximum depth of 20 metres on a bottom of rusted metal heavily encrusted with mollusks and barnacles. Divers have described being able to swim around the barge twice in a single dive before cold water ended the dive, suggesting a moderately compact structure. The Baltic cold is a key factor, and the overall character of the site — dark water, a silted wreck, significant surface conditions — makes it better suited to experienced divers comfortable with cold-water, low-visibility environments rather than beginners.