The Gaia ship is a

replica A replica is an exact (usually 1:1 in scale) copy or remake of an object, made out of the same raw materials, whether a molecule, a work of art, or a commercial product. The term is also used for copies that closely resemble the original, without ...

of the 9th century Viking

Gokstad ship The Gokstad ship is a 9th-century Viking ship found in a burial mound at Gokstad in Sandar, Norway, Sandar, Sandefjord, Vestfold, Norway. It is displayed at the Viking Ship Museum (Oslo), Viking Ship Museum in Oslo, Norway. It is the largest pr ...

. It was built in 1990 and departed

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

for North America on 17 May 1991. It was named ''Hav-Cella'' prior to departing but was renamed ''Gaia'' by

Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Vigdís Finnbogadóttir (; born 15 April 1930) is an Icelandic politician who served as the fourth president of Iceland from 1980 to 1996, the first woman to hold the position and the first in the world to be democratically elected president of ...

, President of Iceland, during a stopover in Iceland.

Gaia In Greek mythology, Gaia (; , a poetic form of ('), meaning 'land' or 'earth'),, , . also spelled Gaea (), is the personification of Earth. Gaia is the ancestral mother—sometimes parthenogenic—of all life. She is the mother of Uranus (S ...

is the name for the goddess of the Earth in Greek mythology. The Gaia ship reached

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

on 2 August and Washington, D.C. on

Leif Erikson Day Leif Erikson Day is an annual observance that occurs on October 9. It honors Leif Erikson (Old Norse: ''Leifr Eiríksson''), the Norse explorer who, in approximately 1000 CE, led the first Europeans believed to have set foot on the continent ...

, 9 October 1991. It further sailed to the

Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the Rio de Janeiro Conference or the Earth Summit (Portuguese: ECO92, Cúpula da Terra), was a major United Nations conference held in Rio de Janeiro from 3 t ...

via the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. With the completion of Museum's Wharf by

Sandefjord Museum Sandefjordmuseene (''Hvalfangstmuseet'') is a museum located in Sandefjord, Norway. It is dedicated to the whaling industry and is the only specialized museum on the subject of whales and whaling in Europe. Since 2009, the museum has been associ ...

in the summer of 1995, ''Gaia'' and the newly restored ''

Southern Actor ''Southern Actor'' is a former whale catcher, currently a museum ship based in Sandefjord, Norway and owned by Sandefjord Museum. It is the only whale catcher from the Modern Whaling Epoch still to be in its original working order. Over 100,000 h ...

'' were permanently placed on the wharf where they remain accessible to the public. The ship can be rented for private tours in the fjord.

History

In the late 1980s, Knut Utstein Kloster was cosponsoring a millennial celebration for Leif Eriksson's voyage to North America, "Vinland Revisited." To re-enact this voyage, Kloster requested an exact replica of the 1,000-year-old

. The Gaia ship is an exact replica of the

. It was constructed during the winter of 1989–1990 in Bjørkedal in

Volda Municipality Volda is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Møre og Romsdal Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre is the Volda (village), village of Volda. Other v ...

. On 17 May 1991 it was sailed by Ragnar Thorseth to North America to mark the 1000th anniversary of

Leif Eriksson Leif Erikson, also known as Leif the Lucky (), was a Norse explorer who is thought to have been the first European to set foot on continental America, approximately half a millennium before Christopher Columbus. According to the sagas of Ice ...

's founding of

Vinland Vinland, Vineland, or Winland () was an area of coastal North America explored by Vikings. Leif Erikson landed there around 1000 AD, nearly five centuries before the voyages of Christopher Columbus and John Cabot. The name appears in the V ...

. It was named ''Gaia'' on 19 June 1991 by

Vigdis Finnbogadottir Vigdis or Vigdís is a Scandinavian and Icelandic feminine given name. Notable people with the name include: * Vigdis Hjulstad Belbo (born 1955), Norwegian politician * Vigdís Finnbogadóttir (born 1930), Icelandic politician * Vigdís Grímsdót ...

, the President of

, during this voyage. While in on its voyage, a number of prominent people visited the ship, including President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

in the U.S. and

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

in Cuba. In May 1993, the vessel was donated to the city of

Sandefjord Sandefjord () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Vestfold. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Sandefjord ...

by Knut Utstein Kloster of the Gaia Ship Foundation. The ship's oak mast is constructed in one piece and stone provides ballast. ''Gaia'' can reach ten knots under its full canvas, which is 120 sq. m., and has sixteen pairs of oars.

Earth Summit

While preparing for the Smithsonian conference, owner Knut Utstein Kloster considered other ways the ship could serve a purpose. After considering the upcoming

Earth Summit The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the Rio de Janeiro Conference or the Earth Summit (Portuguese: ECO92, Cúpula da Terra), was a major United Nations conference held in Rio de Janeiro from 3 ...

scheduled for Brazil in June 1992, he worked with World City America, Inc. CEO John S. Rogers in New York and

Maurice Strong Maurice Frederick Strong, (April 29, 1929 – November 27, 2015) was a Canadian oil and mineral businessman and a diplomat who served as Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations.E Masood (2015) Maurice Strong, Nature 528(7583), 480. Strong ...

at the UN to make sure the ship sailed on to

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

after its stop in Washington, D.C. Agreement was made with

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

Executive Director

James P. Grant James Pineo Grant (May 12, 1922 – January 28, 1995) was an American diplomat and children's advocate. Grant served for 15 years (from January 1980 to January 1995) as the third executive director of the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund ...

to let ''Gaia'' sail under the UNICEF banner "keep the promise for a better world for all children." In the United States, ''Gaia'' first anchored in New York at the

East River The East River is a saltwater Estuary, tidal estuary or strait in New York City. The waterway, which is not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island, ...

outside the UN headquarters on Manhattan. School children read messages addressed to world leaders. After Washington D.C., ''Gaia'' sailed on to

Port Canaveral Port Canaveral is a cruise, cargo, and naval port in Brevard County, Florida, United States. In 2022, the port has the busiest cruise terminals in the world with over 4 million passengers passing through it during the fiscal year. Additional ...

where astronaut

Jim Lovell James Arthur Lovell Jr. ( ; born March 25, 1928) is an American retired astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot and mechanical engineer. In 1968, as command module pilot of Apollo 8, he became, with Frank Borman and William Anders, one of the fi ...

and Jim Lovelock addressed a crowd at the ship. From Florida, ''Gaia'' sailed to

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

Antigua Antigua ( ; ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the local population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the most populous island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua ...

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

St. Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

, and

Manaus, Brazil Manaus () is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Amazonas. It is the seventh-largest city in Brazil, with an estimated 2022 population of 2,063,689 distributed over a land area of about . Located at the east centre of the st ...

. It was a 15,000-mile journey from Norway to Brazil. Queen Sonja of Norway and President

waited at the harbor for ''Gaia''s arrival in Washington, D.C. President

went on board the ship with two of his grandsons. Kloster's World City Discovery in co-operation with

AFS Intercultural Programs AFS Intercultural Programs (or AFS, originally the American Field Service) is an international youth exchange organization. It consists of over 50 independent, not-for-profit organizations, each with its own network of volunteers, professional ...

gathered 150 school children representing 43 countries at the Gaia Camp Amazonas.

Manaus Manaus () is the List of capitals of subdivisions of Brazil, capital and largest city of the States of Brazil, Brazilian state of Amazonas (Brazilian state), Amazonas. It is the List of largest cities in Brazil, seventh-largest city in Brazil, w ...

, the capital of the Brazilian state of Amazonas, embraced the idea of a Gaia Camp Amazonas, and a public park with hiking trails was established. The park would serve as a living laboratory as a rainforest microcosm. The park's layout and planning were done by the

University of Costa Rica The University of Costa Rica (Spanish: ''Universidad de Costa Rica,'' abbreviated UCR) is a public university in the Republic of Costa Rica, in Central America. Its main campus, Ciudad Universitaria Rodrigo Facio, is located in San Pedro Mo ...

. The children at Gaia Camp Amazonas spent a total of three weeks constructing trails, steps, bridges, and resting areas in Manaus's Gaia Park. Interpretive signs were also installed describing the local wildlife and flora.

Literature

*Vinner, Max (2002). ''Boats of the Viking Ship Museum'' (Viking Ship Museum) *Williams, Gareth (2014). ''The Viking Ship'' (British Museum Press) *Wexelsen, Einar (1981). ''Gokstadfunnet: et 100-års minne / The Gokstad Excavations: Centenary of a Norwegian Viking Find'' (Sandefjordmuseene). {{ISBN, 82-990595-2-6.

External links

* The Gaia ship has been featured in several TV productions, including
Voyage to the Future
.Lunde, Stig-Tore (1996). ''Gaia: Gokstadskipet, kopien og miljøskipet''. Sandefjordmuseene. pp. 14-15.

References

Replicas of Viking ships 1990 ships Museum ships in Norway Ships built in Norway

History

Earth Summit

See also

Literature

External links

References