World’s largest ocean-going wooden sailing ship set for Gib visit

The world’s largest ocean-going wooden sailing ship, the ship Götheborg of Sweden, announced on Monday that Gibraltar will be the second stopover on its European tour in 2023.

The visit, scheduled for April 6 to 9, will be the first time the ship visits Gibraltar and it will be moored at the Mid Harbour Marina.

Götheborg of Sweden is a unique replica of an 18th century Swedish East India Company merchant ship that sank outside of Gothenburg in 1745.

The replica took 10 years to build and was launched 20 years ago.

In 2023, the ship will be sailing throughout Europe and is inviting people to sail along as deckhands on board or visit the ship while in port.

Coming from Sète in the south of France, Gibraltar will be the second stopover on the European Tour 2023.

After the stopover in Gibraltar, a long and adventurous sailing leg will follow through the Strait of Gibraltar, along the coast of Portugal and across the Bay of Biscay.

“We are delighted and proud to welcome the magnificent ship Götheborg to Gibraltar for the very first time", said Vijay Daryanani, the Minister for Business, Tourism and the Port.

“We are now looking forward to the opportunity for visitors to board and experience the Götheborg before she sets out through the Strait of Gibraltar to head north.”

The ship will be moored at the central location Mid Harbour Marina and will be open to the public during its stay in Gibraltar.

“We have passed Gibraltar on two occasions before, last year after our stopover in Malaga and in 2007 on our way back to Sweden from China,” said Kristoffer Bennis, Expedition Director at Götheborg of Sweden.

“Now we are excited to finally make an official stopover in this iconic place.”

Last year, Götheborg of Sweden created great attention during her expedition, making 13 stopovers in 11 countries across Europe.

More than 60,000 people visited the ship during the different stopovers, and 500 people sailed with the ship as deckhands.

One of the most noticed and publicised stopovers was London, where thousands of people greeted the ship as she sailed up the Thames and passed Tower Bridge.

As Gibraltar is announced as the second stopover on the European Tour 2023, the possibility to apply to sail along as a deckhand on board on the first and second sailing legs, from Barcelona to Sète, and Sète to Gibraltar, are opened up.

A longer sailing leg consisting of the first six weeks of sailing has previously been published, with the possibility to sail along for free.

With separate sailing legs being published, it is now possible to join just one sailing leg as a paying deckhand.
To sail the ship, a crew of 70 people is needed. 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.

The ship Götheborg is owned by SOIC, which is owned by the Gothenburg based logistics company Greencarrier AB, and is used as a platform to promote trade relations.

For more information on the ship and how to apply to join her crew visit https://www.gotheborg.se/.