Over the past three years, the Vasa Museum has had about 1.5 million visitors a year, the majority of visitors being tourists. When travel restrictions are put in place to stop the spread of the new corona virus, the museum is expected to lose 80% of its total revenue by 2020. Which museum director Lisa Månsson fears can have far-reaching consequences.

- The fear is that this crisis situation is causing so much damage that it cannot be taken again in the foreseeable future. It would be terrible not to be able to afford to open again, says museum director Lisa Månsson.

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The Vasa Museum is part of the State Maritime and Transport History Museums, the state authority that also runs the Marine Museum, the Maritime History Museum and the Railway Museum. The loss of revenue by the Vasa Museum means that the authority's budget is almost halved. It affects all the museums. A comprehensive savings package has been introduced in all parts of the organization and all costs that are not business critical are stopped.

- We have ongoing dialogue with the Ministry of Culture, which knows about our difficult situation and of course we do everything in our power to make as few people as possible need to quit. But the situation is so difficult that notice cannot be avoided, says Leif Grundberg the state's maritime and transport history museums superintendent.