Canute Group transports replica Viking ship to festival celebrating King Canute

The Canute Group has paid tribute to its namesake by transporting a £30,000 replica Viking ship to a festival celebrating King Canute.

The Canute Group, which is based in Purfleet in Essex,  collected the Viking ship, dubbed Bear, from a boatyard in Herne Bay, Kent, making its way along the M25 and over the Dartford Bridge enroute.

Once at the event location, the company used its Hiab roller crane to offload the ship and lay it on its port side, to allow visitors to explore both the hull and the interior.

The full-sized replica formed the centrepiece of the Canute 1,000 Spring Thing, an annual celebration of Viking history hosted by The Friends of Thynghowe and partnered by the re-enactment organisation Regia Anglorum and the Forestry Commission at Sherwood Pines Forest Park in Nottinghamshire.

David Emslie, Canute group director, said: “It isn’t every day we get asked to transport a replica Viking ship, so there was some careful planning involved in the transport and loading. But we have always enjoyed a challenge, and we had all the specialist equipment we needed to make sure the delivery went smoothly.

“The reaction from the public at the Spring Thing event was tremendous; no one had seen a Viking ship come into the forest previously and everyone was busy taking photos. The Friends of Thynghowe were delighted with how smoothly the operation went and it helped to make the event a great success.”