There is strong interest for ship preservation and coastal culture along the whole of the coast of Norway. The Directorate for Cultural Heritage wants to preserve a selection of vessels that are representative of Norway as a shipping nation and around 180 old vessels have been classified as Preserved Ships based on voluntary agreements between the ship owner and the Directorate. Key resources in this restoration work are primarily the voluntary efforts of a group of individuals. In order to keep traditional shipbuilding crafts alive so that vessels worthy of preservation can be restored, three national Ship Preservation Centres were established in 1996: Hardanger Ship Preservation Centre and the Northern Norway Ship Preservation Centre at Gratangen which restores wooden ships, and Bredalsholmen Shipyard and Preservation Centre for work on iron and steel ships. In other words, Bredalsholmen will act as an incentive and a kind of guarantee to government authorities that traditional steel shipbuilding crafts will be kept alive as far as possible.
Links to other ship preservation websites: |