The Viking was built with the aim of fostering and training the sailors of the future to provide manpower for the expanding Danish merchant navy.

In 1921, the freight market was underperforming so badly that the then owner, DFDS, mothballed the ship. Two years later, she was once again commissioned to carry timber from Sundsvall in northern Sweden to Melbourne, Australia. In 1927, times became tough again, and the operation was put on ice.

In summer 1929, the ship owner Gustaf Erikson took over the vessel, and Mariehamn on the Baltic island of Åland became its new home port. Since Gustaf was keen for the operation to return a profit, a number of passenger cabins with berths were built aboard the ship. When the owner realised that the operation could no longer continue, attempts were made to find a suitable buyer. No serious offers were made, however, so the only option seemed to be to break her up. But she escaped this fate and was towed to the Netherlands where she became part of the Rotterdam maritime exhibition in 1950.

After the maritime exhibition, she was purchased by the "Sjöfartens Hus" assocation and, in the following year, by the City of Göteborg. The seamen’s' school which operated aboard the Viking was opened by HRH Prince Bertil of Sweden. Since 1998, the barque Viking has been operated by Lisebergs Restaurant AB.

Data

Cargos carried by the Viking

Wheat (Australia), guano (South America), coal (Europe), stone (Norway ), cement (Denmark), salt (Germany) and soya (Vladivostok).