Have you ever wondered how a 20,000 tonne steel construction can float? Or why there’s a bulb-like thing at the bow of our ferries? To answer these questions and many more, we consulted our cruise host onboard the Stena Danica, Sigurd Ödman Wodlén, and our naval architect, Lillie Wittrup.
Ever wondered why some things float and others don’t? Sigurd has been wondering too. And so did a Greek mathematician called Archimedes who was born almost 3000 years ago.
You’ve probably seen a bulb-like shape protruding from the bow of a ship. Our ferries all have one. But what is it and what’s it doing there?
Every once in a while, a ship needs to have its underwater hull painted, maintained and repaired. You can’t really do that while the ship is in the water. But no crane in the world is strong enough to lift a 20,000-tonne vessel up in the air. The only solution is to make the water disappear around it.
When Swedish king, Gustav II Adolf ordered the royal warship Wasa, he clearly knew nothing about the importance of center of gravity. He ordered an extra cannon deck built – and the Wasa capsized instantly on her maiden voyage in 1628. Not exactly a proud moment in history of Swedish shipbuilding…
Sigurd works as a cruise host onboard Stena Danica. In addition to his work onboard, he also stars in the Stena Line series “How Does It Work?”. Here he tells us about his life at sea and his role as our very own movie star.
It all began with a graduate project on future fuels. Lillie then progressed from the role of naval architect at Stena Teknik to working on sustainability projects at Stena AB. Here, Lillie tells us what it’s like to be a naval architect and take part in the “How Does It Work?” movies.