Captain of the Swedish replica merchant ship the
Gotheborg and the builder of the Chinese Zhenghe Treasure
Boat signed a "sistership" agreement yesterday in Nanjing, the
capital of East China's Jiangsu Province.
Peter Kaalings, captain of the Swedish vessel, said at the
signing ceremony that the agreement would benefit ship-building
knowledge and promote the relationship between China and Sweden.
"It is a great idea for the Chinese people to rebuild the treasure
boat employed by the great navigator Zheng He (1371-1435). We look
forward to the times when the two ships can come together for
exchanges," said Kaalings.
"We welcome the day when the Zhenghe Treasure Boat can
sail to Sweden, when more Swedish people can learn more about
China," added Kaalings.
The Gotheborg, currently anchoring in Shanghai Port,
didn't sail to Nanjing yesterday, because the major water link
between Nanjing and Shanghai is the Yangtze River and the ship was
only designed to sail on oceans.
Experts from the two ships exchanged reconstruction techniques
for ancient ships during a seminar yesterday morning.
There were tips on resisting worms and how to make the vessels
fire-proof.
"I hope that by exchanging ideas on every aspect of the
procedures involved in making replica ships, our Chinese friends
can avoid mistakes we have made," said B-J Nilsson, chief engineer
of the Gotheborg.
Zhao Baogang, president of the Nanjing-based Treasure Boat
Development Corporation, said the two teams also discussed how to
promote the replicas.
The signing ceremony took place yesterday in the Nanjing
Treasure Boat Heritage Park, an excavated shipyard where much of
Zheng's maiden fleet was built.
Construction of the Zhenghe replica treasure boat kicks off
later this month in the park, and should be completed in 2008.
The boat is expected to sail as the country's "image envoy" in
water events in the 2008 Olympic Games.
Zheng's fleet was made up of more than 300 vessels and manned by
about 27,000 sailors, a number unrivalled in the world at that
time. It visited more than 30 countries and regions in Asia and
Africa between 1405 and 1433.
He is believed to be the first man to have established a direct
sea route linking the western Pacific and the Indian Ocean. His
voyages occurred around eight decades earlier than Columbus'
discovery of America and more than 100 years earlier than
Magellan's round-the-world voyage.
(China Daily September 8, 2006)
