Asia Expedition
2022 - 2023
Asia Expedition:
In 2022 Götheborg of Sweden completed a very successful expedition around Europe, making twelve different portstops. More than 50,000 people visited the ship, and close to 500 people experienced what it is like sailing on an 18th century ship while sailing as deckhands between the various ports.
Highlights
On the 8th of June 2022, Götheborg of Sweden departed on the great Asia Expedition. The plan was to sail in Europe in 2022, and stay in Barcelona for a longer winter stopover before continuing to Asia in 2023. For the first time since 2007, the ship would cross the Bay of Biscay and enter the Mediterranean, and there was big excitement on board in anticipation for the adventures ahead.
The first stop after Gothenburg was Helsingborg, where thousands of people gathered to greet the ship upon arrival and to visit her during the stopover. Helsingborg was followed by a Scandinavian capital tour, including visits to Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Oslo.
After Oslo, a visit to another great capital waited: London. At arrival, thousands of people gathered along the quaysides to watch as the ship passed Tower Bridge. The interest in the Götheborg was huge, and thousands of people came to visit the ship at its mooring place in Canary Wharf. The stopover was also covered in all the big media, such as BBC London, BBC Radio, The Guardian, The Times, Financial Times, The Telegraph, The Evening Standard, and TimeOut Magazine, just to mention a few.
After two great stopovers in Bremerhaven and Lisbon, the ship sailed into the Mediterranean for the first time since 2007 and made a stop in Málaga. Next up was a stopover in Nice, which once again attracted amazing interest in the ship, with thousands of visitors and national media coverage. After Nice, instead of heading straight to Valletta as planned, the route was changed, and a stop in Monaco was added to the sailing schedule. Here, the ship had the honour of delivering a spectacular 2.4-meter-high elephant sculpture to H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco, which was donated to him by The Perfect World Foundation.
After the stopover in Malta, Valletta, on October 27th, Götheborg of Sweden arrived to Barcelona and moored at one of the top locations in the city harbour: Port Vell/Rambla de Mar. The first weekend in Barcelona was the official stopover, with full crew, and the ship fully rigged. After that followed a winter period of maintenance, and the ship stayed in Barcelona until March 2023.
In November 2022, the decision was made to postpone the Asia Expedition and instead sail in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe in 2023. The reason was that China at the time still had strict Covid policies in place which made it very difficult to plan an expedition to Asia.