The South Street Seaport is known for its fleet of historic ships. So welcoming the Danmark to South Street is a natural fit.

The three-masted steel hulled sailing vessel launched in 1933 as a training ship for Denmark’s Merchant Navy. Almost 90 years later, it still serves the same purpose for 80 trainees.

“When they come here, it is the first step on a long voyage hopefully to become master mariners and chief engineers and so on,” said Captain Ulrich Skovvo Johannesen, a veteran seaman who has been at the helm of the Danmark since May.

Trainee Clara Waldorff Traeholt took me on a tour of the ship, which is hosted by the South Street Seaport Museum, docked on the north side of Pier 17.

One stop was the galley, where food for a reception on board was being prepared. Then the engine room, which involved a climb down a ladder.

Engines are used when the wind isn’t cooperating at sea. The captain prefers to use the sails since it’s better for the environment. There’s also a plastics compactor affectionately known as Thor’s Hammer, all part of the effort to protect the oceans and its inhabitants while sailing.

“Nothing goes overboard, apart from organic waste. And it’s only when it’s allowed so there are certain distances you have to be from cities and from shore before you are allowed and there needs to be a certain way that we discharge it,” said Waldorff Traeholt.

The Danmark is no stranger to the Seaport. It has visited on multiple occasions. The vessel was in the states for six years during World War Two, when it was used to train the U.S. military.

For Walforff Traeholt, the more than three-month voyage has been a tremendous opportunity, and being here in New York is a first.

“There’s so many things that we have only see in movies and photos and stuff and suddenly they were right there,” said Waldorff Traeholt

The trainees and crew are glad to welcome folks aboard to see their ship, which has become their home these past months.

Find out more at: https://southstreetseaportmuseum.org/