Barque Sigyn

 Sigyn 

Sigyn is Finland’s first museum ship and one of the symbols of the Turku riverfront. Launched for the first time in 1887, Sigyn is now a unique vessel even on an international scale. No similar wooden merchant vessel from the same era, like Sigyn, which sailed in ocean traffic, has been preserved anywhere else in the world.

The acquisition of this historic vessel was considered important as Turku had established a maritime history museum under the auspices of Åbo Akademi University. Sigyn was ceremoniously inaugurated on the Aura River, near the still under-construction Martinsilta bridge. It was opened to the public on July 8, 1939.

In the early 1960s, Sigyn was in a representative condition, but gradually, structural problems with the ship were noticed. The ship was docked in the early 1970s because the bending of the keel had caused a difficult “cat’s back” phenomenon. The 1980s were spent on maintenance and planning. The ship was docked in Turku in 1987 when it turned 100 years old. In the early 1990s, a far-reaching decision was made to place Sigyn in a floating dry dock, allowing for a new way to take care of the vessel. In 1994, there was also a change in ownership when the ship’s ownership was transferred from the Åbo Akademi Foundation to the newly established Sigyn Foundation.

During the years 1998-2001, Sigyn underwent a major overhaul in dry dock in Mariehamn. Twenty years later, the ship was once again in need of extensive refurbishment. From 2018 to 2020, Sigyn’s hull underwent extensive restoration at the Ruissalo shipyard. The restoration project continued with the rigging at the ship’s own berth at Varvintori near Forum Marinum in 2020-2021.

Sigyn can also be explored virtually in the digital museum.