«We will exclusively ship cargo in line with our values regarding sustainability and ethics, i.e., goods produced in a fair, organic and sustainable way, for which transportation is ethically agreeable», as Hawila explains on its website . Hawila is a cargo sailing project in Denmark an stands on two legs: 

• The non-profit association ‘Hawila Project’ uses the ship “Hawila” as a cultural and educational platform around the Baltic and Northern European countries. Artistic performances and cultural events are intended to ‘raise awareness of the sustainability of maritime transport’. These include educational workshops in partnership with a school that follows the Freinet educational approach. Such activities are mainly financed by membership fees and some public funds. These activities ‘have successfully kept the ship and crew alive for over five years and freed up enough savings for the current thorough renovation of the ship.’ The extensive renovation ultimately serves the vision of the Hawila project.

• This renovation, which is practically a new build and, above all, a conversion, is being organised by the crowd-funded cooperative ‘Hawila ApS’. Experts and volunteers from various countries are working on the ship. In October 2025, half of the conversion was complete and 55 per cent of the financing had been secured. 

  The ship

  The Hawila was built in Norway in the 1930s as a motor-assisted sailing ship and transported natural ice for the fishing industry until the 1960s. During the Second World War, it was converted into a two-masted sailing cargo ship due to fuel shortages. With the end of the ice trade, it was abandoned for the first time in the 1970s. From 1978 onwards, an independent Swedish school converted it into a sailing training ship for schoolchildren as part of its curriculum. From 1984 to 2008, generations of Swedish schoolchildren sailed on the Hawila. Eventually, the school's financial situation led to the Hawila being sold. A new owner kept her for several years before abandoning her in Kastrup in 2013. In 2014, she was rescued by the non-profit organisation Hawila Project, repaired and restored for coastal shipping.

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Picture: https://www.hawila.org/refit/

With an overall length of 34.9 metres, a width of 6.3 metres and a sail area of 390 square metres, after conversion it will have a loading capacity of 60 tonnes in 95 cubic metres of cargo space. The two cargo holds are designed so that they can easily be converted into living space, each with eight bunks. This enables it to serve a dual function as a transport and educational vessel. Winter voyages to the Caribbean are planned to bring goods back to Scandinavia. Educational activities with up to 32 people on board will be concentrated in the summer, when it is better not to sail across the Atlantic due to the hurricane season.

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        The frames and stringers were also replaced.
Picture: https://www.hawila.org

The hull was newly planked with oak. The planks were made flexible with steam, forced into their final shape with metal screws and, after cooling, fastened to the frames with wooden nails. Since oak contains a lot of tannic acid, which attacks metal, wooden nails are the more durable fastening method. In March 2025, the renovated hull of the Hawila was launched for the first time. The gaff ketch is scheduled to begin operating as a cargo ship in 2027: ‘By connecting sustainable producers in the Caribbean with conscious consumers in Europe, Scandinavia and the Baltic States, we are the last missing link in an otherwise already sustainable supply chain.’