The purpose behind the project

Mission & Story

A ship built to explore, test history, and inspire

Draken Harald Hårfagre is more than a remarkable ship. It is a living platform for exploration, seamanship, craftsmanship, education, and cultural storytelling, connecting the ambition of the past with the curiosity of the present.

The Mission

Draken Harald Hårfagre exists to bring history to life through real voyages, real seamanship, and real human experience. Rooted in the ambition of Viking-age exploration, the project approaches the past not as something distant or static, but as something that can still be tested, experienced, and shared.

At its core, Draken is also a form of experiential archaeology: a way of learning from history by putting ideas, methods, and assumptions to the test on the open sea. In that sense, the ship is not only a symbol of the past, but a tool for discovery.

Through voyages, public engagement, education, media, and collaboration, Draken seeks to inspire curiosity, deepen people’s connection to the sea, and show how craftsmanship, courage, and teamwork remain as relevant today as ever.

The Story

The building of Draken Harald Hårfagre began in 2008, initiated by Norwegian entrepreneur Sigurd Aase. What began as an ambitious shipbuilding vision gradually developed into something larger: a project shaped not only by the vessel itself, but by the questions it could help answer and the experiences it could make possible.

Part of the original ambition was to build a ship capable of following in the wake of Viking-age exploration westward across the North Atlantic. That founding idea helped shape Draken not simply as a cultural symbol, but as a vessel intended for real testing and real ocean voyaging.

Inspired by Viking-age ambition, seafaring, and craftsmanship, Draken was built not simply to represent the past, but to engage with it in a living and practical way. The aim was not only to create a striking ship, but to understand more about what such vessels were capable of, what they demanded of the people who sailed them, and what they still have to teach us today.

A defining milestone came in 2016, when Draken crossed the North Atlantic. That voyage demonstrated that the project was far more than a remarkable shipbuilding achievement. It proved that Draken could carry the spirit of exploration into the modern world through real endurance, real seamanship, and real ocean voyaging. Explore the full story of Expedition America 2016.

The significance of that voyage was also recognized internationally. In 2016, the crew and builders of Draken Harald Hårfagre received the Leif Erikson Exploration History Award in Iceland for their expedition retracing the first trans-Atlantic crossing and the Viking discovery of the New World.

Since then, the project has continued to evolve through expeditions, public engagement, education, media, and new forms of collaboration. Today, Draken stands not only as a ship with an extraordinary history, but as a living platform carried forward by crew, volunteers, collaborators, and partners.

Why Draken Matters

Draken matters because it offers something rare: authenticity at full scale. In an age of simulations, summaries, and second-hand experiences, the ship creates direct encounters with history, the sea, and the demands of working together in the real world.

For some, Draken is a cultural and historical project. For others, it is a platform for education, storytelling, events, media, or sail training. What unites these dimensions is the same underlying idea: that meaningful understanding often comes not only from observing, but from doing.

Draken also reminds us that exploration is not only about where we go. It is about perspective, courage, discipline, and the willingness to step into uncertainty. That is part of what gives the project continuing relevance today.

Exploration with Purpose

Draken carries forward a spirit of ocean exploration that remains deeply relevant. The project seeks to strengthen people’s connection to the sea, not only as a setting for adventure and discovery, but as the foundation of life on Earth.

Through storytelling, public engagement, and future educational and ocean-related collaborations, Draken aims to inspire curiosity, respect for the marine world, and a greater sense of shared responsibility for the waters that connect us.

Draken supports the UN Sustainable Development Goal 14 – Life Below Water.