Installation of VASA’s new support structure begins –

Installing a new steel support structure, the structure will be launched, which will save the specially preserved 17th-century Swedish Royal Warship Vasa from its own weight sag.

Experts have begun to build a complex metal structure to support the hull, which began custom-built at the Stockholm Museum over 60 years after its rescue.

“Today, we put in part of a new support structure, a cradle, which is needed because the ship needs better support, because the old brackets in 1961 are no longer cut,” said project leader Peter Rydebyork, showing the new structure near the 17th-century warship.

The VASA Museum has been engaged to Swedish steel company Alterima, developing a custom internal support skeleton to support the weight of the ship and stabilize it to ensure its long-term survival. The company specializes in producing stainless steel alloys with unusually high strength and high corrosion resistance. It weighs much more pounds than other steel materials, so the internal support is lighter and applies less pressure to fragile wood. Alleima’s Steel has another priceless advantage in the VASA project: it is so powerful, with such a strong light that the protector will have to drill fewer holes in the hull to install the skeleton. Experts estimate that they need less than half the number of holes in the original construction drawings.

The new internal support structure will take the form of a truss with support, which will run vertically from the keel to the upper deck. Light, hollow tubes will carry the weight of the deck boards and beams, offsetting the ruthless gravity pressure that makes the ship sink down and outward. Compared to the current 17 external support, the bone will be connected to a new external support cradle, 27 of which have joints under the keel.

Stabilizing the entire ship by adding a new external support cradle is the first phase of installation. The internal skeleton will be installed next. Finally, the ship will be corrected. Installation of the new support system is expected to be completed in 2028, 15 minutes from King Gustav II’s flagship store entering its maiden voyage at the big flagship store in Stockholm Bay.