Oosterschelde – North sea 2007. Photographer Arthur Smeets
Time until the Tall Sailing Ship “Oosterschelde” sails into Lyttelton Harbour on 27 December 2024:
On 27th December 2024, at 9:00am, the Dutch Tall Sailing Ship ‘Oosterschelde’ is expected to sail into Lyttelton Harbour, Canterbury, New Zealand – in what will be the start of the 175th Anniversary celebrations of the arrival, in 1850, of the first European settlers known as the Canterbury Pilgrims.
This is the same date, 27th December, that the last of the First Four Ships, the Cressy, arrived in Lyttelton in 1850.
Ship: Dutch Tall Sailing Ship ‘Oosterschelde’
Website: dutchtallship.com
‘Oosterschelde’ is a three-masted schooner from the Netherlands, built in 1918. She is the largest restored Dutch freightship and the only remaining Dutch three-masted topsail schooner. Her home port is Rotterdam.
As a freighter with a deadweight of 400 tons, she transported mainly clay, stone and wood, but also herring, bran, potatoes, straw and bananas. In the 1930s, a heavier diesel engine was installed and some sail-rigging was removed (including the aft mast). In 1939, she was sold to a Danish shipping company and, rebaptised ‘Fuglen II’, became one of the most modern ships in the Danish fleet. In 1954, she was sold to a Swede, renamed ‘Sylvan’ and thoroughly rebuilt to a modern motorised coaster.
In 1988, she was brought back to the Netherlands. She had always been maintained well, but restoration to the original state turned out too expensive for private funding. So a foundation collected money from various sources, partly by selling shares in the ship. Restoration lasted from 1990 to 1992, with the help of her last Dutch captain, Jan Kramer, and three maritime museums to ensure authenticity.
From 1996 through 1998 she made a trip around the world (route: Red Sea, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, New-Zealand, Cape Horn, Antarctic, Açores). Maintenance is paid for through paying passengers and company presentations. A new voyage around the world started on November 3, 2012 and ended in May 2014. This brought the ship to Cabo Verde, Brazil, Cape Of Good Hope, Mauritius, Cape Leeuwin, New Zealand, Cape Horn and Antarctica.
‘Oosterschelde’ near Singapore 1997
Photographer Pieter Nijdeken
Technical details
Type:Three-masted topsail schooner
Year of Launch:1918
Restoration: 1988 – 1992
Port of registration: Rotterdam
Length overall: 50 m
Length stem to stern: 40.12 m
Width: 7.5 m
Draught: 3.00 m
Airdraught: 36 m
Sail area: 891 square m
Engine: 6 cylinder Deutz, 360 pk
Two person cabins: 6
Four person cabins: 3
Toilets: 5
Showers: 5
Capacity voyages: 24 guests
Capacity daytrips:120 guests
Call sign: PGNP