A replica of the Swedish East India Company's 18th century merchant
ship, the Gotheborg, was welcomed back home with fanfare and
festive celebrations on Saturday.
The vessel returned to the southwest Swedish city of Gotheborg
after two years during which it touched many of China's cities,
including Hong Kong.
Its return coincided with President Hu Jintao's three-day visit to the Nordic
country, the first-ever by a head of state since the two countries
established diplomatic ties 57 years ago.
Thousands of leisure boats crowded the waters just beyond the
harbour and tens of thousands of onlookers flocked to the port to
watch the Gotheborg dock after retracing the original ship's route
to and from China. A 21-gun royal salute was fired after the ship
reached Gotheborg.
At 1:40 pm, Hu and his wife Liu Yongqing, accompanied by
Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, boarded the vessel
to the strains of Chinese folk music. Swedish politicians and pop
stars, too, joined in the celebrations.
"Sailing more than halfway around the world, the new Gotheborg
has built a bridge of friendship linking our two peoples," Hu said
in his speech.
The 47-meter-long Gotheborg left the city of Gotheborg in
October 2005 and sailed through Spain, Brazil, South Africa,
Australia and Indonesia before reaching Guangzhou and Shanghai in
China in July 2006.
On its return voyage, it stopped in Singapore and Hong Kong. It
passed through London where the Tower Bridge was opened for it.
The Gotheborg is part goodwill ambassador and part promotional
tool for sponsors like truck-maker Volvo that wants a piece of the
huge Chinese market.
The original ship, the East Indiaman Gotheborg, was returning
with full cargo from its third two-year voyage to China in 1745
when it ran into a rock at the entrance to Gotheborg port, and sank
slowly in shallow waters.
Though the crew was rescued, almost 9 tons of china was lost. A
third of the cargo that included tea, silk and spices was, however,
salvaged and sold, making the expedition a profitable one anyway.
The rest of the consignment was recovered only in the late
1980s.
The replica of the vessel was built in Gotheborg, using methods
believed to have been in practice in the 18th century, although
it's not entirely faithful to the original.
This time around, the crew did not have to share space with
cattle. Instead, crew members were able to enjoy the luxury of
showers and toilets. Water tanks, smoke detectors and five marine
engines donated by Volvo were the other modern amenities on the new
vessel.
"I'm very proud to accomplish this project in the presence of
Sweden's head of state and the Chinese president," said Goran
Bengtsson, head of the company that ran the vessel project.
"Using our common history we have created good conditions to
improve our contacts in the future," he said.
President Hu Jintao, accompanied by
Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf, steers the Gotheborg, a replica of
the Swedish East India Company's 18th century merchant vessel, on
Saturday.
(China Daily June 11, 2007)
