Viking (barque)
The four-masted barque Viking (since the 1950s better known under her Swedish name as the "Barken Viking" ("The Barque Viking")) was built in 1906 by Burmeister & Wain in Copenhagen, Denmark. She was originally built to be used as a sail training ship for sailors for the rapidly growing Danish merchant fleet. At that time, seaworthiness and cargo capacity were given top priority. One day in July of 1909 captain Niels Clausen recorded in the ship's log a speed record, 15.5 knots (28.7 km/h) while carrying a full cargo of wheat from Australia making a 24-hour-run of 372 seamiles. In 1929 she joined the Erikson-fleet of tall ships, but was about to be scrapped in the late 1940s when she was eventually saved by the Swedish government in 1950.
There are only ten four-masted barques and one four-masted full-rigged ship (the Falls of Clyde) in existence and only five of these still sail (Sedov, Kruzenshtern, Sea Cloud, Nippon Maru II, Kaiwo Maru II). A few more are still afloat and berthed in various harbours (Peking (New York City), Moshulu (Philadelphia), Passat (Lübeck, Germany), Pommern (Mariehamn, Finland), Viking)
She came permanently to Gothenburg/Göteborg, Sweden in 1950 as a home for different shipping institutions and later as a school of seamanship. Today she is moored in the Göteborg guest harbour as hotel "Barken Viking". The owner is Liseberg amusement park.
Facts:
- Length overall with the jib-boom - 118 m
- Length without the jib-boom (hull length) - 106 m
- Length on deck - 97 m
- Length p/p - 87 m
- Beam (Width) - 13.9 m
- Draught - 7.33 m
- Depth of hold - 8.1 m
- Ballast - 1,400 tonnes (1,370 tons)
- Displacement - ~6,300 tonnes
- Cargo capacity - 4,100 tonnes (4,035 tons)
- Cargo hold - 6,300 m³ (2,959 GRT / 2,665 NRT)
- Highest mast - 55.5 m
- Sail area - 3,690 m²
- Anchor weight - 3 tonnes each
The Viking's cargos:
- Wheat - Australia
- Guano - South America
- Coal - Europe
- Stone - Norway
- Timber - Sweden (Sundsvall)
- Cement - Denmark
- Salt - Germany (Hamburg)
- Soya beans - Russia (Vladivostok)