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ON THIS DAY IN OUR HISTORY: Sailing Around the World
🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea /Culture & Society

ON THIS DAY IN OUR HISTORY: Sailing Around the World

From Post-Courier · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • The three-masted schooner Gretel arrived in Port Moresby from Vila during a round-the-world voyage.
  • The vessel’s owners spent five years and about K85,000 rebuilding it after buying it eight years earlier.
  • Its 10-person crew included five Swedes, four Americans and one Australian, with the journey planned to return to Europe through the Indian Ocean.

The three-masted schooner Gretel reached Port Moresby from Vila as it continued a round-the-world voyage. Built in Finland in 1946 as a Baltic Sea trading vessel, the schooner was making its way across the Pacific.

One of its five Swedish owners, 32-year-old Rolf Engel, said the group bought the vessel eight years earlier. They then spent five years and about K85,000 rebuilding it.

The owners had sailed from Stockholm a year earlier and hoped to return home by Christmas. The vessel could accommodate 14 people, but carried a crew of 10: five Swedes, four Americans and one Australian.

The voyage took the schooner from Europe to the Pacific through the Panama Canal. The return journey to Europe was planned through the Indian Ocean. The story is part of the Post-Courier’s archive of historical coverage from the 1950s to the 2000s.

About this summary

Originally published by Post-Courier in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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