Constructed in 1906 by Burmeister & Wain in Copenhagen, Denmark, the Barken Viking is a four-masted steel barque. She is reported to be the biggest sailing ship ever built in the Nordic countries. Originally built as a sail training ship for the Danish merchant fleet, she was launched on December 1, 1906, and christened by the Crown Princess of Denmark.
In July 1909, Captain Niels Clausen logged the ship's top speed of 15.5 knots in the Roaring Forties. At that time, she was on her way home fully loaded with wheat from Port Pirie in South Australia. In 1929, the ship was bought for £6,500 by Åland shipowner Gustaf Erikson and began carrying passengers for 25 shillings per person per day. She famously won the Grain Race of 1948.
Today, the Barken Viking remains a prominent part of the Swedish coastline. She is moored at Lilla Bommen in Gothenburg as a floating hotel. Because her masts are taller than the Älvsborg Bridge, she was partially demasted in 2021 to allow her to be towed to a new location.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Nik Frost
Discuss this with the author and others
No comments yet. Be the first to start the conversation.