New bolts will save Vasa.

Thousands of rustless bolts are going to prevent the royal Vasa ship from deteriorating. 

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  The beautiful warship Vasa, commissioned by King Gustaf II Adolf, sank on her maiden voyage in 1628. She was rescued in 1961 and is now going to be spruced up with some 5000 new bolts.

• The original bolts of Vasa were replaced by iron bolts when the ship was rescued in 1961, but these are about to come apart too. The hydrochloric acid in the shipwreck is eating into the metal and the bolts could seriously harm the wooden wreck.

• Sandvik, the famous Swedish high-tech engineering company, will replace the 5000 bolts. The Vasa ship at the Vasa museum is one of Stockholm’s most popular tourist attractions. Vasa was built from 1626 to 1628, and foundered and sank after sailing less than a nautical mile into her maiden voyage on August 10, 1628. She fell into obscurity after most of her valuable bronze cannons were salvaged in the 17th century.

• The ship was located again in the late 1950’s, in a busy shipping lane just outside the Stockholm harbor. She was salvaged with a largely intact hull on April 24 in 1961. Vasa was housed in a temporary museum called Wasavarvet ("The Wasa Shipyard") until 1987, and was then moved to the Vasa Museum in Stockholm.

• For more info, see Vasamuseet