A Feat of Engineering Transports the World’s Best-Preserved Viking Ship to Its New Home
In 1903, on a farm in southeastern Norway, a once-in-a-lifetime discovery emerged from within a large yet unassuming mound in a field. When the spot was excavated in 1904, the mound revealed an entire Viking longship that had been interred in its entirety as a burial containing the remains of two women, several animals, and a wide array of elaborately decorated objects.
Known as the Oseberg Viking Ship after the name of the farm where it was discovered, the vessel is thought to have been built around 820 and buried around 834. Reconstructions over the past several decades have suggested that the ship was indeed built to sail, rather than having been designed specifically as a burial—a practice reserved for high-status individuals, for whom the ship provided passage into the afterlife. Nestled deep in the wet earth, the wood was remarkably preserved for more than 1,000 years, although much of it was crushed and degraded.
Initial restoration efforts of the Oseberg took more than 20 years, and experts tried to preserve as much of the structure as possible through the use of oils and resin to prevent the wood from crumbling. Today, around 90 percent of the ship’s composition is original, making it the best-preserved example in the world.
A feat of engineering and careful planning recently moved the Oseberg Viking Ship to a new permanent home, with the same relocation planned for two additional longships, the Gokstad and the Tune. For more than two years, the Oseberg has been encased in a steel framework that weighs more than 50 tons, allowing it to stay on site during construction of a new museum.
The ship has been on display at the Viking Ship Museum at the University of Oslo for almost a century. Over time, the combination of unstable restoration methods, lack of humidity control, and weakening supports began causing stress on the vessel, making it vulnerable to more damage if left in place.
In 2014, the government-backed Saving Oseberg project kicked off a 10-plus-year mission to not only further protect one of the most important Viking discoveries in the world, but make sure it could be enjoyed and studied for generations to come. In early 2023, construction commenced on a new space connected to the Viking Ship Museum’s original building, now renamed the Museum of the Viking Age. The expanded campus is slated to open in 2027.
On September 10, the 71-foot-long Oseberg ship, contained in its vibration-resistant steel crate, was lifted onto a steel track that conveyed it through a long hall and into its new exhibition space. The process took about 10 hours to move the ship 350 feet, with a maximum speed of around 10 inches per minute.
Director Aud V. Tønnessen celebrated the historic move, saying, “It is a ship that has been part of so much and has an afterlife that gives me chills to think about.” Tønnessen also told Norwegian news agency NTB, “I actually find it quite moving to think that it is now going on its final voyage.”
Learn more, and follow the progress of the Gokstad and the Tune, on the museum’s website and YouTube.
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