Roald Amundsen (often abbreviated Roald; named in honor of Norwegian polar explorer Roald Amundsen), originally named Vilm, is a German steel-ship built on the Elbe River in 1952. Having worked in different areas, she was refitted in 1992 to 1993 as a brig (two-masted square-rigged sailing ship) and now serves as a sail training ship. During summer, she usually operates in the Baltic Sea, and usually embarks for journeys to farther destinations for winter, including several trans-Atlantic crossings.
Roald Amundsen has a length overall of 49.8 m (163 ft), a length of hull of 40.8 m (134 ft) and a waterline length of 38.2 m (125 ft). The vessel has a beam of 7.2 m (24 ft) and a maximum draft of 4.2 m (14 ft). Roald‘s masts reach a height of 34 m (112 ft) and are rigged with 18 sails with a total area of 850.0 m² (9,149 sq ft). The vessel has a displacement of 480 tons and has a tonnage of 298 gross register tons (GRT).
Roald Amundsen has an 8-cylinder Buckau-Wolff diesel engine rated at 220 kW (300 hp). The vessel is equipped with two generators, one of 48 kW (64 hp), the other of 53 kW (71 hp). The ship can carry 180 tons of ballast. Roald Amundsen has crew of 17 with up to 31 trainees embarked.
Roald Amundsen now operates all year around as a sail training vessel with voyages lasting between one and three weeks. Her home port is Eckernförde, a harbour city in Schleswig-Holstein near Kiel in northern Germany. Summer months are spent with voyages on the Baltic Sea from Denmark to Baltic countries or the North Sea. Winters are spent in warmer regions. Roald Amundsen has repeatedly crossed the Atlantic Ocean, bound for South American ports in Brazil and French Guiana (1998), for tall ships events in North America (2000, 2010), and for the Caribbean (2001, 2011/12, 2012/13). Further destinations include Iceland (1995), England and Ireland (2006), the Mediterranean (2006/07, 2007/08), the Canary Islands (1995), and others. During her North American voyage in 2010, Roald Amundsen visited the Great Lakes and there met with the US brig Niagara; the two brigs formed an unofficial friendship, and as of 2013, Roald Amundsen still flies a flag of Niagara at some occasions such as the Tall Ship Parade at Kiel Week. Another friendship, based on their respective crews on board for Kiel Week, has been formed with the German wooden schooner Amphitrite; both ships have established a tradition of berthing next to each other during the event.
