Hawila will be used not only as a sailing cargo ship, but also as a cultural and educational platform, to raise environmental awareness and contribute to driving the global shipping industry towards a sustainable, carbon-free transport culture.
Hawila wants to create awareness about globalization along her route. Through the experiences gained over the years, they want to continue their mission to teach traditional skills related to sailing and boat building using natural and sustainable products.
Because art and games can open the mind to create visions and actions, Hawila is used as a collaborative platform for performances and workshops around sustainability and traditional sailing.
A ship with a long history
Hawila was built in Risør, Norway, in 1935 as a Baltic Trader, a traditional Scandinavian design for a strong wooden freighter capable of carrying a huge amount of cargo for its size.
She was built as a motor-assisted sailing ship and carried natural ice until the 1960s. In WWII she was converted into a two-masted sailing freighter to compensate for fuel shortages.
Due to the end of the ice cream business, it was abandoned for the first time in the 1970s. From 1978, a Swedish independent school “Mot Bättre Vetande” converted her into a sailing training ship for schoolchildren as part of the school curriculum: the cargo hold became a dormitory, the aft wheelhouse was removed, a galley was built on the deck, and an aft deck was raised. From 1984 to 2008, generations of Swedish schoolchildren sailed with Hawila. Ultimately, the school's financial situation led to Hawila being sold.
A new owner kept her for a few years before abandoning her in Kastrup in 2013. In 2014 she was rescued, repaired and restored for coastal shipping by our non-profit organization Hawila Project.
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