Viking ship

Draken Harald Hårfagre (Dragon Harald Fairhair) is the largest Viking ship built in modern times.

In March 2010, construction on the largest Viking ship ever built in modern times began. Named after Harald Fairhair, the King who unified Norway into one kingdom, the great dragon ship was built on a small island just outside the town of Haugesund in Fjord Norway.

The ship is crafted in oak and is a hundred and fourteen feet length, twenty-seven feet on the beam, displacing seventy tons, and with a thirty-two hundred square foot sail of pure silk.

Draken Harald Hårfagre has 25 pairs of oars and it was necessary to have at least two crew members on each oar to row the ship efficiently, thus a minimum crew of a hundred was required. The saving grace is that with a vast sail, a crew of only 12 to 14 would be necessary to sail the ship.

The summer of 2014 the ship made her first ocean going voyage, from Haugesund, Norway, to Liverpool, England and back again. In 2018, the ship and its crew are going on an expedition to the USA. More info about Draken Harald Hårfagre and the expedition.