World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893; it remains on exhibit near Chicago. The Gaia ship is an exact replica of the Gokstad Ship. The Gaia Ship was constructed during the winter of 1989-1990 in Bjørkedal in Volda. It was named Gaia on June 19, 1991, by Vigdis Finnbogadottir, the President of Iceland, during a voyage to North America. In May of 1993, the vessel was donated to the city of Sandefjord from Knut Utstein Kloster from the Gaia Ship Foundation. The ship’s oak mast is constructed in one piece and stone provides ballast. It can reach ten knots under its full canvas, which is 120 sq. m., and it has sixteen pairs of oars. On May 17, 1991, it was sailed by Ragnar Thorseth to North America to mark the 1000th anniversary of Leiv Eriksson’s founding of Vinland. Gaia was built in 1990 and given to Sandefjord in 1993. It currently has Sandefjord as its home port. Gaia also sailed to the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit via the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland, and North America. Other replicas include Munin, a half-scale replica in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the Íslendingur in the Viking World museum in Iceland, the Hugin, in Ramsgate, England, and a replica at the Hjemkomst Center in Moorhead, Minnesota. See also Gjellestad ship, a longship discovered in 2019 that is similar in size to the Gokstad ship. References Related Reading Vinner, Max (2002)Boats of the Viking Ship Museum (Viking Ship Museum) Williams, Gareth (2014) The Viking Ship (British Museum Press) External links Gokstadhaugen or Kongshaugen Artificial Mound Viking Ship Museum (Oslo) Nicolaysen, N. 1882, The Viking-Ship Discovered at Gokstad in Norway/Langskibet fra Gokstad ved Sandefjord, Christiania. Gokstad ship size comparison Viking ships Archaeological sites in Norway Sandefjord Ships preserved in museums Viking ship burials 9th century in Norway