Grimstad Maritime Heritage & Archipelago

Meet your guide and leave Arendal for Hasseldalen historic shipyard in Grimstad where you will find private maritime collections located in a protected area by Vikkilen in Grimstad. The shipowner Atle Bergshaven has taken care of a large maritime collection that few have yet seen. Atle Bergshaven is CEO of shipping company Bergshav that played an important role in the development of MS The World, the largest private residential yacht on Earth. Atle’s family maritime heritage dates back to 1772 with the acquisition of “Fortuna”, a twin masted schooner. Through the next 250 years and 7 generations the family has been involved in shipbuilding, seafaring and ship owning. In 1990 Bergshav acquired Hasseldalen in Grimstad, a sailing ship yard established in 1842. Hasseldalen has since been home to the company head office. It is also home to the extensive Hasseldalen Maritime Collections. This yard, still containing many buildings and 2 slipways, was listed by the Norwegian government for its uniqueness in maritime heritage. 

Bergshaven opened the collection to interested parties in 1991, but to the public only in 2020. Be among the first international travellers who will visit the unique exhibition.

To enhance the existing maritime environment in Hasseldalen, one of the buildings has been filled by maritime artifacts representing the local maritime period from 1850 till 1950. Another building contains a captain’s saloon. This comes from S/S “Skanderborg” built in 1896 and recycled in Grimstad in 1958. A third building originally constructed in 1916 hosts a number of heritage wooden boats as well as a boat builders workshop.

Your tour will include a visit to the two buildings. The first building contains over 1,100 items that tell much of the history of Norwegian shipping in general and Southern Norway in particular, from around 1850 to 1950. Here are forestry and carpentry tools, blacksmith and sailmaker tools, galley equipment, blocks, equipment used for loading and unloading, objects from the steamship period, ship models and maps. 

The second building you will visit is old shipyard building which houses Atle’s historic boat collection.

Then embark the schooner Solrik for a boat tour back to Arendal via Grimstad Archipelago. Enjoy the traditional Norwegian refreshment onboard (included): peel-your-own fresh shrimp served with lemon and local beverages. 

The Solrik was built in 1929 at the shipyard in Brekne on Lista. The first owner was Oskar Hansen, who had sailed similar boats on the American East Coast. The schooner is 64 feet long and 20 feet wide. It sticks 6.5 feet deep into the water. Solrik sailed in coastal shipping in southern Norway until 1978, mainly on the Skagerak coast and in western Norway. When the Skonnerten Solrik association took over the ship in 1996, it was extensively modernized, including the installation of a modern Volvo engine. In 2016, Risør Trebåtbyggeri undertook an extensive modernization of the hull, which resulted in the schooner being in first-class technical condition today. She appears today with new masts, new sails and a new engine. In the summer of 2016, Solrik was awarded the plaque of the Norwegian Cultural Heritage Foundation for good preservation work.

The tour ends at the Arendal pier.