The city of Jakobstad and the surrounding region have shipbuilding traditions that stretch back over 450 years. The Jacobstads Wapen, built during the 1980s and ‘90s based on drawings from the 1700s, is located at the shipyard today. The ship is a replica of the galleass of the same name that was the first ship to sail abroad after the towns and cities around the Gulf of Bothnia were granted freedom of navigation in 1765. When the original Jacobstads Wapen galleass was launched in 1767, it was just one of the over 1,000 sailing vessels built in this region over the centuries.

The Vega is a three-masted schooner built in Turku in 1952. This ship is one of the only two remaining out of the 91 wooden schooners that were built and handed over to the Soviet Union as part of war reparations after World War II. After many adventures, the wear and tear of years at sea, and a sizeable rescue mission, she has now arrived at her final port of call in Jakobstad. In the exhibition hall at the shipyard dedicated to the Vega, she is displayed in three stages. The bow shows the construction, the midship shows damage and decay, and the stern is being restored to its original condition, as it was in 1952.

Link to The Old Harbour Shipyard