An old ship sets sail around the world

A replica of the 250-year-old Goteborg is coming to harbour in Chennai.

It must have been quite a job to build a replica of the 250-year-old Göteborg, which sank after its 30-month long voyage just as it approached Gothenburg harbour on Sweden's west coast.

That accident meant that there wasn't any evidence of what the ship looked like when the decision to rebuild it was taken. Still, a group of enthusiasts did manage the task, and the ship has already sailed from Gothenburg, Sweden to Shanghai, China, and is now en route to Chennai, India.

Part of this was the same route taken by the original ship. The replica was painstakingly built using traditional methods and with the same raw materials that were used in the 18th century "" 1,000 oak logs and 50 kilometres of pine to make the 58.5 metre long and 11 metre wide East Indiaman ship.

Even the nails, blocks, sails, cordage and ropes have been made by hand. Interestingly, modern equipment for safety, navigation, cooking, heating and hygiene has been carefully disguised onboard to preserve the original look and feel.

The idea of reconstructing Göteborg on a scale of 1:1 came after a major marine archeological study was carried out between 1986-92. The keel of the new vessel was laid on June 11, 1995 and in just over 10 years, the replica was ready for its journey on the original route from Sweden, passing through Spain, Brazil, South Africa, Australia, Indonesia and finally sailing to Guangzhou and Shanghai in China.

The cuurent ship is owned by SOIC, which in the 18th century was a trading company, but is now a non-profit foundation.

On its way back though, the route will be different: Göteborg is going to reach Sweden, passing through the Suez Canal (which didn't exist when the ship originally sailed) and will dock in Chennai on January 31, 2007 for 11 days. During the stopover in Chennai, the Swedish embassy has planned a number of activities such as business seminars on the automotive, telecom, IT and biotech sectors.

There will also be a number of exhibitions to inform you about the history of the ship. And if you happen to be visiting Chennai at that time, a tour of the ship is also possible.

Anders Sjöberg, deputy head of mission at the Swedish embassy in Delhi, explains that the ship's visit to India has a lot to do with India's booming economy. "It is an important market for Sweden and the ship's visit will be used for various exchanges with India," he says.

The "Sweden Comes to Chennai" programme will begin with a seminar on sustainable city planning, which is being jointly organised by IIT-Madras and the city of Göteborg. And if one of the main purposes of the ship is to promote trade, can businessmen be far away?

Maud Olofsson, deputy prime minister of Sweden, and the minister for IT and telecommunications, Dayanidhi Maran, will inaugurate the Sweden-India Business Day. About 40 top Swedish companies are expected to participate in this interaction with Indian companies.

On the culture front, there will be performances by Swedish jazz fusion group Mynta, a Swedish food festival at the Taj Coromandel, a Swedish film festival and a regatta among various other activities surrounding the ship.

The modern replica of Götheborg is playing the vital role of an ambassador for Swedish culture, trade and enterprise. The ship is being touted as a symbol of friendship and its mission, to strengthen relations between Sweden and the countries she visits.

In keeping with such a tradition, a group of people from each port of call joins in as volunteer crew or sailors and disembark when the ship reaches their country. Among the total crew of 80 people at the moment are some Indians who boarded the ship in Singapore.

The Indian bunch on board includes actress Revathy, Lt Cdr Amit Arvind, a tsunami-affected fisherman's son, a Chennai businessman and two journalists. The six Indians, says Sjöberg, are enjoying themselves and have become part of the crew, helping out on the deck and, more importantly, in the kitchen.

These days when you could fly to any part of the world in a jiffy, 30 long months out on the sea at an average speed of 5-6 knots is definitely an adventure, one though only accessible to a few.

The proof that this journey is on the minds of many is clear from the fact that more than 3,00,000 people have visited the ship since she left Sweden, of which more than 1,80,000 were from Guangzhou and Shanghai in China.

Going back in time has never been so much fun.