Baltic Beauty

The vessel was built in 1926 at the N.V. Capello Shipyard in Zwartsluis, the Netherlands, originally as the Hans 2, a live eel transporter.
A large tank—where the captain’s saloon is now located—once held live fish that swam freely during transport. At that time, the ship was powered by a steam engine.

In 1936, it was sold to Sweden and renamed Sven Wilhelm, in honor of the son of the new shipowner’s director. The transaction did not involve money—the purchase price was 25 tons of live eels.

Years of service and fishing took their toll on the vessel’s structure and appearance. By 1977, she was withdrawn from service.

The following year, in 1978, the deteriorating wreck—soon to become a beauty—was discovered by her future long-time owner, Victor Gottlow, who decided to buy her. After an extensive restoration, the vessel was first converted into a schooner, and later—since 2004—into a brigantine.

The new shipowner named the ship Dominique Fredion in honor of his wife. However, when the couple’s affection cooled somewhat, Gottlow decided to choose a more neutral name and renamed the ship Baltic Beauty. Interestingly, below deck there are, among other features, three bathrooms and a sauna. Also worth noting is the galley, which includes a sculpture of a woman entwined with an eel — a tribute to the ship’s fishing past.

In 2018, management of the vessel was taken over by the shipowning company POLSail from Gdańsk. This change came about because the owner of Baltic Beauty was looking for someone younger to handle the ship’s operations on his behalf. Eventually, he decided to sell the vessel. As a result, Poland gained another A-class sailing ship. On July 6, 2019, the red and white flag was raised on the ship’s flagstaff, and the home port was changed to Gdańsk (previously Ronneby). At the ceremony, Victor Gottlow experienced a mix of emotion and satisfaction.