On 29 June, the world’s biggest Viking ship reconstruction, the “Sea Stallion from Glendalough”, begins the second half of its research voyage: Roskilde–Dublin return. When the 30-metre long ship sets off from Dublin, it will have a total crew of 62 on board.
Last weekend, 37 new members of the crew were called in for obligatory safety instruction at the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde, as a part of the final preparations for the trip home to Denmark. Much of the time was spent in the cold water of the fjord.
Laughter resounded in the harbour in many languages on Saturday when the 37 students jumped into the water and floated around like inflated Michelin men until they learned how to let surplus air out of their life jackets.
The safety of the 61 members of the crew is the project’s absolute top priority, explains Sea Stallion skipper, Carsten Hvid, who was in charge of the weekend’s course:
“They must train in the use of the special safety gear chosen for this voyage, especially their personal life-saving equipment, the wet suit and life jacket, both carefully chosen out of many on offer. The life jackets are made for professional users and the wet suits are the same as those used by the armed forces. We have just gone one step further and had every suit individually tailored. Now the gear has been tested, and the few suits that did not fit perfectly we will have remade. When we set off from Dublin, everyone has to be completely familiar with their safety gear and it must be fully functional."
Part of Sunday was spent on climbing into life rafts from the water in full gear and practising evacuation from the museum’s Viking ships. The Sea Stallion has 10 life rafts on board, each with room for eight people. As an extra precaution, the Sea Stallion has a support vessel, “Cable One” all the way from Dublin, up the English Channel, and over the North Sea to Thyborøn.
