HERE USED TO be a wood-carver in every shipyard, who was responsible for decorating the ships. The decora-tion on men-of-war symbolised victories, the nation´s strength and position. Trading ships´ decorations demonstrated that the ships came from countries with a rich culture, and that the ships´ owners were powerful trading part-ners. Leading artists were employed to ensure that the ships´ decorations remained in line with stylistic changes in Europe. Andy Peters, one of Europe´s leading ma-rine wood-carvers, was brought in to produce the decoration for the new East Indiaman. He works in collaboration with leading museums and collectors to ensure that this almost for-gotten art is not lost. Only a couple of pieces of wooden carv-ing from the wreck of the original East India-man have been salvaged, so it was necessary to try to find out how similar ships of the pe-riod were decorated. The tremendous amount of heavy wood-carving that had previously been found on ships, such as the royal flagship “Vasa", was reduced in the the 730s when the East Indiaman “Götheborg" was built. Instead the performance or loading capacity of the ships was the crucial factor. Oak was replaced by knot-free pine, which weighed less and was easier to cut and carve. So that the workpiece for the wood sculptures was large enough, sections of pine were joined together to achieve a suitable thickness. The salvaged wood-carv-ings from the sunken East Indiaman substan-tiate this practice.The decorations for the new East Indiaman have been cut and carved by hand using carv-ing chisels, wood chisels and a wooden mallet, just as in the 8th century, and some of the tools used also date from that time. Now, as then, the workpiece used for the sculptures consists of sections of pine that have been joined together. The only difference is that the pine sections have now been bonded together using modern glue.The figurehead on the original ship was most likely a lion, which was the most popular choice

 
Ship´s bell on the weather deck

The ship´s bell is installed in the bell-frame on the weather deck, just behind the foremast. The bell has been cast to resemble the ship´s bell on the East Indiaman “Enigheten". The "Enigheten" made her first voyage to Canton in 748. Ten years later the bell was taken to Nääs Castle, whose owner in the 8th century was a supercargo on several expedi-tions to China and subsequently became a director of the Company.

 
The important ship´s boats

The ship´s boats, or deck boats, were an impor-tant part of the equipment on board. Without ship´s boats it was impossible to reach land, unless you wanted to swim. Without ship´s boats it was impossible to kedge forward or go in and guide the ship near unfamiliar coasts, or to obtain fresh water and provisions during the voyage. There were often several different types of ship´s boats on board, including  launches, sloops and dinghies.The ship´s boats on the new East Indiaman are two sloops, which were built in accordance with a line drawing by Fredric Henric af Chapman. The drawing uses a few simple, ele-gant lines to describe the shape of the boats, but does not provide any other details. A great deal of research was required into the history of the ship´s boats and into different boat  types for different purposes. The space on the East Indiaman´s deck restricted the size of the ship´s boats to a length of 6.5 metres and a beam of .85 metres. It should be possible for the ship´s boats to be rowed and sailed in open sea. Each ship´s boat has room for ten oarsmen and about five passengers. The ship´s boats might be used to glide up onto the sand on foreign beaches during the East Indiaman´s voyage on the oceans.