The New Belgica is a replica of the RV Belgica (1884), a research vessel with a proud history.
In 2006, the VZW New Belgica was formed with the intention of constructing a replica of Belgica. The project was officially launched on 9 September 2007 at De Steenschuit's yard in Boom, Antwerp by Kris Peeters, Minister-President of Flanders. [1] Queen Paola is the project's patron. [2] Construction was scheduled for completion in 2013. [1]
From 2010 -2013 the project has been supported by the European Regional Development Fund's Echoes2c scheme. Steenschuits relocated their yard to Noeveren, in a major shipbuilding and brick making area. There came two significant setback that have changed the aims of the project. Firstly, the planned structural and spatial improvements for the area were stopped. The competent authorities refused to grant a certificate of seaworthiness to the new vessel demanding expensive and unpractical changes to the ship to bring her up to modern standards. The vessel has secured a place in the Port of Antwerp as a floating museum, adjacent to the historic dry-docks and the Red Star Line museum. [3]
HMS Endeavour was a British Royal Navy research vessel that Lieutenant James Cook commanded to Tahiti, New Zealand and Australia on his first voyage of discovery from 1768 to 1771.
A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes more involved with original construction, dockyards are sometimes more linked with maintenance and basing activities. The terms are routinely used interchangeably, in part because the evolution of dockyards and shipyards has often caused them to change or merge roles.
The Royal Canadian Navy is the naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 Halifax-class frigates, 12 Kingston-class coastal defence vessels, 4 Victoria-class submarines, 4 Harry DeWolf-class offshore patrol vessels, 8 Orca-class patrol vessels, and several auxiliary vessels. The RCN consists of 8,400 Regular Force and 4,100 Primary Reserve sailors, supported by 3,800 civilians. Vice-Admiral Angus Topshee is the commander of the Royal Canadian Navy and chief of the Naval Staff.
A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were wheelers driven by animals or humans.
Baron Adrien Victor Joseph de Gerlache de Gomery was a Belgian officer in the Belgian Royal Navy who led the Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897–99.
Belgica was and is the name of three Belgian research vessels, with a name derived ultimately from the Latin Gallia Belgica.
HMS Surprise is a modern tall ship built at Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada. The vessel was built in 1970 as HMS Rose to a Phil Bolger design based on the original 18th-century British Admiralty drawings of HMS Rose, a 20-gun sixth-rate post ship from 1757.
The PS Medway Queen is a paddle driven steamship, the only mobile estuary paddle steamer left in the United Kingdom. She was one of the "little ships of Dunkirk", making a record seven trips and rescuing 7,000 men in the evacuation of Dunkirk.
The Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897–1899 was the first expedition to winter in the Antarctic region. Led by Adrien de Gerlache de Gomery aboard the RV Belgica, it was the first Belgian Antarctic expedition and is considered the first expedition of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Among its members were Frederick Cook and Roald Amundsen, explorers who would later attempt the respective conquests of the North and South Poles.
Götheborg of Sweden is a sailing replica of the Swedish East Indiaman Götheborg I, launched in 1738. All sailors survived when the original ship sank off Gothenburg, Sweden, on 12 September 1745, while approaching the harbour on her return from a third voyage to China. Construction of the replica started in 1995, with the hull launched in 2003, and the rig fully tested for the first time in 2005. Much of the time was spent researching how to rebuild the replica. In 2008, Götheborg completed the first Baltic Sea Tour. It is one of the world's largest operational wooden sailing ships.
A ship replica is a reconstruction of a no longer existing ship. Replicas can range from authentically reconstructed, fully seaworthy ships, to ships of modern construction that give an impression of a historic vessel. Some replicas may not even be seaworthy, but built for other educational or entertainment purposes.
Burrard Dry Dock Ltd. was a Canadian shipbuilding company headquartered in North Vancouver, British Columbia. Together with neighbouring North Van Ship Repair and Yarrows Ltd. of Esquimalt, which were both later purchased by the company, Burrard built and refitted over 450 ships, including many warships for the Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy during the First and Second World Wars.
Belgica was a barque-rigged steamship that was built in 1884 by Christian Brinch Jørgensen at Svelvik, Norway as the whaler Patria. In 1896, she was purchased by Adrien de Gerlache for conversion to a research ship, taking part in the Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897–1901, becoming the first ship to overwinter in the Antarctic. In 1902, she was sold to Philippe, Duke of Orléans and used on expeditions to the Arctic in 1905 and from 1907 to 1909.
A royal barge is a ceremonial barge that is used by a monarch for processions and transport on a body of water.
RV Borys Aleksandrov is a Ukrainian research vessel which was built in 1984. She was previously manned by the Belgian Naval Component as RV Belgica and is in active service.
There have been several proposals and studies for a project to build a replica ship based on the famous Olympic-class ocean liner, RMS Titanic. A project by South African businessman Sarel Gaus was abandoned in 2006, and a project by Australian businessman and former politician from Fairfax division Clive Palmer was announced in 2012, known as the Titanic II. While Palmer has made no official announcement about his project being abandoned, it appears to have seen a dramatically decreased amount of progress by 2015 and no construction. A Titanic replica to be permanently docked at an inland resort in Sichuan, China commenced construction in May 2015. The Titanic Museums in Branson, Missouri and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee are designed to depict the forward half of the Titanic.
HMS Endeavour replica is a replica of HMS Endeavour, the bark commanded by Lieutenant James Cook when he charted New Zealand and the eastern coast of Australia.
Georges Lecointe was a Belgian naval officer and scientist. He was captain of the Belgica and second-in-command of the Belgian Antarctic Expedition, the first to overwinter in Antarctica. After his return to Belgium he was the founder of the International Polar Organization and deeply involved in the foundation of the International Research Council and the International Astronomical Union.
The Harwich Mayflower Heritage Centre is a museum and charitable community project whose main goal is to establish a "legacy for Essex", both through constructing a full-scale replica of the famous Mayflower ship which transported a hundred Pilgrim Fathers from England to America in 1620, and through celebrating the history and heritage of Harwich, a town in the south-east of England.
The Romandisea Titanic is an unfinished full-scale replica of the RMS Titanic, that is located in landlocked Sichuan province, China. The project was first reported in October 2013 and formally launched in January 2014. The ship was to be the same size as the original Olympic-class ocean liner Titanic. The replica vessel was anticipated to be the centerpiece of the Romandisea resort and would have included overnight hotel accommodations. It was to be permanently docked in a reservoir on the Qijiang River, a tributary of the Fu River, at coordinates 30.6282°N 105.2220°E in Sichuan's rural Daying County.