Sailing yachtUnited States flagIMO 1066008
Kalmar Nyckel
At anchor.
Signal 23 min ago 39.01009°N, 76.17486°W Destination Chestertown,md
This is Kalmar Nyckel
Kalmar Nyckel (Swedish for 'Key of Kalmar') was a Swedish ship (built by the Dutch) famed for carrying Swedish settlers to North America in 1638, to establish the colony of New Sweden.
History
Kalmar Nyckel was constructed in about 1625, and was of a design called a pinnace. When Sweden decided to establish a trading colony in the New World under the direction of Peter Minuit, Kalmar Nyckel was chosen for the voyage. A smaller vessel, Fogel Grip (Griffin Bird), accompanied her. The ships sailed from Gothenburg in December 1637, commanded by Jan Hindriksen van der Water, but encountered a severe storm in the North Sea and had to divert to the Netherlands for repairs. They departed on New Year's Day 1638, arriving in North America in March 1638. They built a fort on the present site of the city of Wilmington, which they named Fort Christina.
Modern replica
In 1986, a group of citizens of Wilmington, Delaware, established the Kalmar Nyckel Foundation, whose primary source of funding is from the taxpayers of the State of Delaware, plus donations from corporations and individuals. The foundation designed, built, and launched a replica of Kalmar Nyckel. The modern ship, designed by naval architects Thomas C. Gillmer and Iver Franzen, with additional help from Melbourne Smith, Joel Welter, and Ken Court, was built at a shipyard in Wilmington on the Christina River near the original 1638 Swedish settlers' landing site at Fort Christina. She was launched on September 28, 1997, and commissioned on May 9, 1998.
Symphony
In 1986, composer Benjamin Lees was commissioned to write a symphony to honor the founding of Wilmington, Delaware. Lees named the resulting work Symphony No. 5: Kalmar Nyckel. The piece was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2003, following release of a recording by the German orchestra Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz.
Recently at sea
She is among the largest 40% of yachts tracked by Yacht Tracker. Over the past 30 days she spent 7 days at sea, covering about 170 km. Of late she has spent most of her time in Bellefonte (United States). Yacht Tracker has been following her position since October 20, 2026.
Sources: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), Wikidata.
Specifications
Identification
- MMSI
- 367004000
- IMO
- 1066008
- Call sign
- WCY3589
Navigation
- Declared destination
- Chestertown,md
- Track (24 h)
- 89.4 km
- Speed
- 0.0 knots
- Days at sea (30 d)
- 7
- Tracked since
- October 20, 2026
- Last signal
- 23 min ago
Recent port calls
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Data broadcast by the vessel via AIS, for information only. Owner or captain? Request removal at contact@yacht-tracker.com.
