On September 2, 2010, the site of discovery of the Frau Maria near the Aland Islands in the Baltic Sea was visited by an international expert group including Head of the Department for Preservation of Cultural Values of the Federal Service for Cultural Heritage Protection V.V. Petrakov, President of the Charity Fund Salvation of National Cultural and Historical Values A.M.Tarasov, representatives of the Varyag Cruiser Charity Fund and the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Finland, Finnish officials, vessel-raising experts, environmentalists, etc. The purpose of the visit was to sum up the results of research and negotiations regarding the raising of the Frau Maria.
The delegation inspected the Frau Maria discovery site marked by four white buoys on the sea surface. Representatives of the Finnish side dwelt on ensuring 24-hour protection of the relic by movement radars. Local environmentalists analyzed possible damage that may be caused to the environment by the lifting of the ship.
The expert group members visited a unique research vessel specially equipped for hours-long operations in deep waters. They were shown samples of the ship’s wooden shell that Finnish divers had managed to lift earlier, as well as underwater video recordings made by the Loxus device. According to the Finnish side, the Frau Maria is in an excellent condition due to exceptional physical and chemical property of the Baltic water (low salt content and low temperatures).
As the representatives of the Russian side underlined, they fully realize that further decisions will be difficult to take and expressed their hope that the Russian-Finnish dialogue will be efficient, and the ship raising operations will start as early as in the next years. А.М. Tarasov made a special focus on the readiness of METROPOL Group and the Varyag Cruiser Charity Fund to render all possible organizational and financial support to the Frau Maria lifting operations and the recovery of artistic masterpieces kept on board.

For reference

The Dutch merchant ship Frau Maria, which sank in 1771, was discovered in Finland’s territorial waters in 1999. The Russian side initiated some archives studies and revealed that the Frau Maria contained in its hold the works of art purchased at an auction in Holland in 1771 for Catherine the Great.
Twenty seven paintings by outstanding 16th- and 17th-century Dutch artists, including Rembrandt, were preliminary identified and evaluated by museum experts at the amount of at least 500 million euros. In April 2007, the Federal Service for Cultural Heritage Protection and the Foreign Ministry of Russia were appointed the executives of a commission by the Russian Government on raising the Frau Maria. In 2007 and 2008, a work group was established to make preparations for the project implementation, comprised of representatives of charity funds, fine art restorers, underwater and diving operators.

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