World’s largest ocean-going wooden sailing ship is coming to Oslo

At 12:30, half an hour before the ship arrives to the quayside, it will salute Oslo and its citizens with a gun salute. Last time the ship visited Olso was seven years ago, in June 2015. The ship also visited Oslo in May 2013. The ship will be open to visitors during the stopover in Oslo.

“ We welcome the sailing ship Götheborg. The Port of Oslo is responsible for the family event Oslo Havnelangs. The sailing ship Götheborg will be a popular attraction as we extend the event to the whole summer”, said Siv Ellen Omland, head of communication in The Port of Oslo.

The ship is on a two year long expedition, the Asia Expedition 2022/2023. Following in the historic footsteps of the original ship from the 18^th century that Götheborg is a replica of, the purpose of the expedition is to promote trade relations in Europe and Asia. The ship will sail in Europe in 2022, stay in the Mediterranean during the winter, and continue to Asia in March 2023. In September 2023, the ship will reach the expedition’s end destination Shanghai.

The stopover in Oslo is the fifth stopover on the Asia Expedition 2022/2023. Götheborg left Gothenburg 8 June 2022 and has since then visited Helsingborg, Helsinki, Stockholm and Copenhagen.

“We’re looking forward to visiting the Norwegian capital. There has been a lot of interest in the ship the last two times that we have previously visited Oslo”, said Kristoffer Bennis, Expedition Director at Götheborg of Sweden. “Since Oslo is the last expedition stopover in the Nordics, Oslo gets the chance to wish us fair winds from all of the Nordic Countries and Scandinavia.”

Götheborg of Sweden will leave Oslo Sunday 31 July at 16:00, and will shoot gun salute at that time as well.

There is still opportunity to sail along as a deckhand onboard, from Bremerhaven–Lisbon, and the sailing legs after. Anyone can apply to sail along. About 20 persons are professional crew. The other 50 are deckhands, who are members of the public that sail along for the adventure, experience, and opportunity to learn how to sail an 18th century ship.

Asia Expedition 2022/2023
Götheborg departed from Gothenburg 8 June 2022, and will arrive in Shanghai in September 2023. During the expedition, the ship is sailing in the Baltic Sea and Northern Europe before continuing to the Mediterranean. During winter 2022/2023 the ship will remain in the Mediterranean. It will continue to Asia in spring 2023. The mission for the Asia Expedition is to promote trade relations and use the ship as a unique platform for businesses and partners, to create business opportunities.

Greencarrier and Partners
In 2019 the Swedish logistics company Greencarrier acquired SOIC Ship Management, that operates the ship Götheborg, and thereby secured financing of the expedition to Asia. Spring 2020 Greencarrier also acquired the ship. Behind the decision lies a long-term interest in and commitment to the ship Götheborg, and the conviction that the ship is built to sail and therefore should do that.

Partners to the expedition are also EKN (The Swedish Export Credit Agency) and Vinnova (Sweden’s innovation agency), along with a great number of suppliers that support the expedition in different ways.

Short facts: The ship Götheborg – history
The Götheborg is a full-sized replica of an 18th century ship, that was owned by the Swedish East India Company, and that ran aground and sank outside of Gothenburg in 1745. In 1984 marine excavation of the original ship Götheborg was initiated and in 1995 the building of a new Götheborg was started. Eight years later, in 2003, the ship was launched, and between 2005-2007 the ship sailed the historical route to Asia and back. After that several expeditions around Europe were carried out, the latest one in 2015. In 2021 the ship sailed from Gothenburg to Stockholm and back.