Royal splendour was bestowed upon the ship in London. Their Majesties the King of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia visited the Götheborg and also took part in various arrangements. The 300 year celebration of the birth of Linneaus was also observed during the portcall, including the movie “The Linneaus Expedition" being showed at the National Film Theatre. There were also a number of seminars at the Museum in Docklands, focusing transport and trade. On Saturday, June 2nd, the ship left London to sail for Göteborg. The two-week portcall was concluded with TowerBridge opening once again for a farewell salute in the London Pool. The Götheborg then sailed on down theThamestowards the Channel, to set course for her home port, Göteborg. Passing Greenwich and the Cutty Sark, the Götheborg fired a salute to honour Cutty Sark which was recently ravaged by fire. AfterLondon , The Swedish Ship started the last leg of her China expedition. On Saturday, June 9th, she will moor in the Free port in Göteborg. That also means the end of a successful adventure, creating many valuable contacts for Swedish business and successfully placing Sweden on the world map.
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For more information:
Annica Magnusson Director of Press and Communication, mobile +46 706 23 25 06
Volvo, SKF, Swedbank and the Port of Gothenburg are the Official Partners of the Swedish Ship Götheborg.
About SOIC
The SOIC, a non-profit foundation, is managing the project Götheborg, a replica of an Swedsih East Indiaman that in 1745 ran aground and sank off the entrance to the Göteborg harbour. The construction was based on a marine archaeological excavation of the remnants of that ship. All the time the target has been to sail forChinawith the replica, along the same route as chosen by the Swedish East India Company of those days in its trade with the Orient and China. King Carl XVI Gustaf is the High Protector of the project.
On October 2nd, 2005, the Swedish Ship Götheborg commenced her expedition to China. As a flagship for Swedish enterprise, trade and culture the ship has so far made portcalls in Vigo and Cádiz in Spain, Recife in Brazil ,Cape Town and Port Elizabeth/Nelson Mandela Bay in South Africa, Fremantle, Australia and Jakarta ,Indonesia. She reached Guangzhou (Canton), China in July and was finally in Shanghai on August. The journey back home started on October 28th when the ship left Shanghai and sailed towards Hong Kong and Singapore continuing via the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean back to Sweden.
