History of the harbour and yard

The shipbuilding in Assens harbour dates back about 1700 years!

The vikings constructed their beautiful ships in this area - and some historical shipbuilding artifacts are excavated close to the town of Assens - for instance the Nydam-vikingship.

But we shall start the yard history closer to our time: Since the Assens harbour itself was reconstructed in 1847 - quite a few ships have been built in the harbour.

Assens Shipyard Ltd

was established after the harbour ground was filled up - around 1850. The slipway was built in 1865.

Before and after 1865 many ships were careened in the old fashioned way - as you can see on this old photo.

 

In 1851 the southern part of the harbour basin was constructed with 10 feet depths of water. and with an area for shipbuilding. In 1854 the first mirror reflected lighthouse was built. For 15 years the colour was red but since 1900 the colour has been green.

In the year 1884 the first crane managing 6 tons was bought for the harbour. In 1885 a new basin was made with 16 feet depth. This was closely connected to the building of the sugar factory, the butchery, the brewery and the the new railroad from Tommerup-Assens. The last construction lasted until 1910 where the northern basin was extended now with new iron bulwarks and 7 mtr. depths.

The harbour facilities and the shipyard have over the last 400 years always been classified as "well kept and efficient

In the 1880ies - 15 new buildings left the yard - and in the 1890ies 19 ships.

Until 1914 ships the size of 3 mast schooners were built in Assens - but after this year only smaller new ships left the yard. Cutters up to 100 brt for the North Sea and a couple went for Greenland these years.
Willemoes at Assens Shipyard - Denmark

In 1936 the western pier was constructed - and rebuild in 1971 as a stone pier that you see today. Today you find the shipyard extended considerably and related still to Danish shipbuilding families.

The depths of the harbour are now deeper and the building capacity is better than ever. The history of the yard shows how important this line of work always was to the city and how a great deal of people have earned their daily bread by the yard in the town.