Galathea 3 - the expedition begins

Today Crown Prince Frederik is visiting the ship Vædderen, the lead ship in the Galathea 3 Expedition which is due to set sail tomorrow. Along with other guests, Frederik is attending this event to highlight the beginning of this third Danish Galathea expedition. Frederik will also be present to see the expedition off tomorrow from the Amalie Quay in Copenhagen.

Galathea expeditions have an interesting history. The first expedition was initiated by King Christian VIII and sailed from 1845 to 1847. See Galathea 1 (1845-47).

The second expedition came a hundred years after the first and sailed from 1950 to 1952. See Galathea 2 (1950-52). Prince Axel (nephew of Frederik's grandfather King Frederik IX) was involved with this expedition.

The Vædderen, which means 'The Ram' in Danish, is the Danish Navy surveillance vessel which will undertake the voyage to circumnavigate the Earth, sailing tomorrow and returning to Denmark in April 2007. The expedition will be concerned with research into biology, geology, culture and history, and climate and the environment. Read about the Vædderen (Danish Naval History) and the preparation of the ship and its facilities for the voyage.

Crown Prince Frederik is the patron of the Danish Expedition Foundation which organises the expedition and has been quite closely involved with its organisation. Frederik has already been an expeditioner: in 1986 he went to Central Asia (Mongolia) and in 2000 he participated in the Sirius Expedition travelling 2,800 kms by dog sled across northern Greenland. It is expected that he may paticipate in part of this expedition too, although details are not yet known. See Galathea 3 bound for the seven seas for details of who is involved and its organisation (in English).




Explore the Galathea 3 website, it has some great information about the route, history, research and activities of the expedition. Danish classrooms will have a direct satellite connection to the ship while it is on its journey:
Galathea 3 Expedition (English version)
Galathea 3 Ekspeditionen (Danish version)
Denmark.dk 'Galathea 3 - Voyages of discovery, a venerable Danish tradition'
Politiken's Galathea 3 page (Danish)
Berlingske Tidende's Galathea 3 page (Danish)
Crown Prince Frederik's Sirius 2000 Expedition page (in English from Frederik's website)
Sirius 2000 Expedition and Sirius 2000 - interview with Crown Prince Frederik (both in English)