Oseberg Viking Longship Moving! – History Blog

The Oseberg Ship is the best-preserved Viking long-haul spacecraft in existence, and it moved for the first time since it was installed in the Oslo Viking Ship Museum 99 years ago. Traveling 100 meters (328 feet) took 10 hours, which did not count over a decade of research, funding combat, engineering innovation and architecture, making it possible.

The remains of a ship were discovered in 1903 at the farmer Oskar Rom in 1903 at Lille Oseberg Farm in Slagen, Vestfold. He reported his discovery to Oslo archaeologist Gabriel Gustafson, who went to see it himself and immediately realized that the well-designed dynamic morphological decorations on the wooden ship date back to the Viking era. He returned to the excavation site next spring and found hundreds of spectacular grave objects—a four-wheeled wagon, three intricate carved sleds, tools, kitchen utensils, tents, textiles, carved animal heads—and the skeleton remains of two women. The researchers found that it was built in 820 and used at sea for 14 years before retiring for a funeral in 834.

At the time, Norway had no legacy laws, so the Oseberg ship and all its content belonged to the landowner. Thankfully, a private donor purchased the entire kit and Kaboodle and donated it to the University of Oslo. Other wealthy donors, like the city of Christiania, donated thousands of clones to preserve and restore the ship. In the pioneering efforts of preservation, the wood was slowly dried and the boat was rebuilt with as much original wood as possible. It took 21 years, but it was a superb recovery feat, and 90% of the rebuilt ships are still made of original wood today.

In 1926, Oseberg ship moved from the University of Oslo to the newly built Viking Ship Museum. The museum is designed to accommodate 40,000 visitors a year, but less than 90 years later, it hosts more than half a million visitors a year, with all their moisture, heat and enough expansion vibrations actively damaging the fragile dry wood on board. A 2012 study found that all ships, vans and sleds in the museum needed a new home with new bracelets, new climate control technologies, and new anti-vibration support to survive.

Many of the debates that followed, funding arguments, and construction proposals remained unchanged. The Norwegian government allocated funds for the new museum only when the Gokstad ship developed two large cracks in 2019. With that, more delays came, but the new members of last year finally started construction. In order to prevent ships and items from being damaged by the vibrations of the building next door, in 2022, a large-scale custom steel drill rig was built by a company dedicated to offshore industrial equipment in the North Sea. The trusses remain stable during construction and are designed as mobile drilling rigs upon completion of the new facility.

Even with the top speed of 25 cm per minute, this move is very exciting. When the Oseberg ship left the hall for the past 99 years, the walls were cleared only millimeters and the ship lingered for hours before slowly lowering.

“It’s been a historic day. It’s part of a ship and having an afterlife that has disturbed me. Everyone involved did an incredible job and it’s a wonderful day in my life,” said museum director AUD v. Tønnessen.

The project involves the relocation and securing of ships is very complex and is crucial for professionals from different industries to work together for a long time.

Museum preservers and archaeologists work with engineers from the North Sea, vibration experts, crane operators, and engineers from many other projects, which is unprecedented.

Next will be the Goksta ship. Preparations will begin next week for easier time taking place later this fall. The song will be the last of three Viking ships in the museum. After the transfer is complete, three OSBERG sleds are moved, i.e. the most vulnerable objects in the collection.

This is a very cool time for Oseberg boat to move.