MS Polstjerna is Norway's best-preserved sealing vessel, displayed in a glass conservation building next to Polaria. The ship was built in 1949 near Risør and had 33 hunting seasons in the Arctic, harvesting close to 100,000 seals from the West Ice and East Ice before its final season in 1981.
The ship is 28 metres long and sits in dry dock. You can go on board and see the cramped quarters where the crew lived for months at a time in some of the harshest waters on earth. The exhibition gives a direct sense of what life was like on a working Arctic sealing vessel.
It is a small museum; 20 to 30 minutes is enough. Combined with a visit to Polaria next door, it makes a good pair.
The ship is 28 metres long and sits in dry dock. You can go on board and see the cramped quarters where the crew lived for months at a time in some of the harshest waters on earth. The exhibition gives a direct sense of what life was like on a working Arctic sealing vessel.
It is a small museum; 20 to 30 minutes is enough. Combined with a visit to Polaria next door, it makes a good pair.