In the eastern dock at Beckholmen, intensive work is underway to replace the rusty bottom plates on S/S Norrtelje. The old plates are cut away with a cutting torch and replaced with new ship plate.

- It is basically the entire bottom that has to be replaced, says Martin Adevik.

At Beckholmen, an ultrasound examination of the S/S Norrtelje was carried out, which showed that the ship's plate had rusted and needed to be replaced. The frame, which is the ship's frame, was also rusty and had to be replaced.

Beckholmen's long boat history

At Beckholmen there have been shipbuilding operations since the 17th century. Beckholmen got its name from the becksudderi that was on the island. Tar was boiled into more viscous pitch that was used to seal boat hulls and barrels and was a valuable export commodity.

- When we cleaned up the island in 2012 and started digging in the ground, we could still smell the freshly cooked tar, says Martin Adevik.

Found time capsule

During the work to remove the old ship plates, tools, wedges and rivets were found in the front of the keel that had been dropped when the ship was built.

- It was too narrow at the bottom so they haven't got them up. It is a 120-year-old time capsule, says Martin Adevik.

In mid-February, the renovation is expected to be completed and when the ice conditions permit, S/S Norrtelje will be towed back to the home port in Norrtälje.

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From the Archive: From palace singer to restaurant boat – here is the story of S/S Norrtelje. Photo: Archive