(CNN) – Nearly 200 years after sinking at sea, the galleon Götheborg travels its way around the world.
Well, a little.
The original Götheborg, a merchant ship belonging to the Swedish East India Company, sank in 1745.
Despite descending the river Göta älv, near the port of Gothenburg, divers were able to explore its wreck for the first time in the 1980s.
A large-scale replica, christened Götheborg II, now stands proudly in the waters of Stockholm. In April 2022, it will set sail from Sweden and begin to redo the journey of its namesake.
Götheborg II dominates other ships in the port.
Fredrik Nilsson / Courtesy of the Swedish East India Company
Although wind and weather conditions are always an important factor, the boat’s planned itinerary features stops in London, Lisbon, Palma de Mallorca, Athens, Alexandria, Djibouti, Muscat, Chennai, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong. Kong and Shanghai.
If all goes according to plan, Götheborg II will arrive in Shanghai sometime in October 2022.
Docked in Sweden, the ship currently has 80 crew. At each stop, new deck hands will appear and crew members will grow by about 50, meaning there should be about 600 people on board to help see Gothenburg II safely to Asia.
“The mission of the trip is to strengthen Swedish-Asian trade relations and promote the need for innovative solutions for a more sustainable world,” a Götheborg II representative told CNN.
“The aim of the expedition is to advance Swedish innovations and companies as an important and necessary part of the solution towards our vision of creating a sustainable future.”
Join the past and the present
One of the challenges of recreating the ship was to find the same type of wood and tools that were used in the 18th century.
During its lifetime, Götheborg was the largest wooden sailing ship in the world. The team that formed Götheborg II did not want their ship to be a modern interpretation, but they spent time finding the right materials and tools to build a ship in the same way they would two centuries earlier.
Like its predecessor, Götheborg II is 58.5 meters long, 11 meters wide, has a vertical clearance of 47 meters and can reach speeds of up to 11 knots.
In all, it took more than a decade to complete.
The original ship was owned by the Swedish East India Company, which was set up to establish trade between Sweden and Asian countries, mainly China. The company worked from 1731 to 1813 and is responsible for bringing many Chinese products, such as tea and rice, to Sweden for the first time.
And the name of the ship, Götheborg, was particularly apt. Gothenburg (as it is spelled in English) is located on the west coast of Sweden, making it a perfect point of entry and exit for these ships. In the 18th century, Gothenburg flourished as a trading center and grew to become the second largest city in Sweden, which it still is today.
Even today, more than 200 years later, there are still lightnings from that era in the modern and crowded city. For example, the office of the Swedish East India Company is now home to the Gothenburg City Museum.
The Swedish East India Company was re-established in 1993, albeit with a considerably different mission. Instead of focusing on trade, the company is now working to support the Swedish shipbuilding industry.