It took 1,000 oak logs and 50 kilometres of pine to build the 58.5-metre long and 11- metre wide East Indiaman, as ships belonging to the East India Company -- in this case the Swedish one -- were called. Even the nails, blocks, sails, cordage and ropes have been made by hand.

The ship's chief engineer, Bengt-Goran Nilsson (in the picture), has been a part of the group that created the ship from the conceptual stage to the finish. He said all they had for reference was a small piece of the ship -- a black piece of wood -- recovered from the seabed.

They still carry the piece with them on board.

Museums, looking at ships similar to the Gotheborg, and referring to paintings helped research for rebuilding the Gotheborg.

"It was a big challenge because we had to create all technical parts in wood," said Nilsson. "Though we built it exactly like it was built in the 18th century, she also has all the modern facilities like equipment for safety, navigation, cooking, heating and hygiene. All this has been carefully disguised onboard to preserve the original look and feel."