Humanity has been a seafaring species for thousands of years, with the first surviving vessels and records of seamanship appearing in Austronesian people in the region of contemporary Southern China and Taiwan. At around 3,000-1,500 BC, the ships built by these people were already so advanced that their presence allowed them to travel all across Maritime Southeast Asia in the process known as the Austronesian Expansion.
At roughly the same time, Ancient Egyptians started developing the first ships in the Mediterranean, and one of the oldest surviving sailboats in the world has been preserved from Ancient Egyptian times, dating all the way back to 2500 BC! Let’s learn of this early history of seamanship and shipbuilding by admiring 15 of the oldest surviving ships in the world, ranked from “newest” to oldest.
15. La Belle (1684)
Built in: Kingdom of France
14. Vasa (1627)
Built in: Swedish Empire
13. Bremen cog (1380)
Built in: Holy Roman Empire
12. Skuldelev 2 (1042)
Built in: Kingdom of Dublin
11. Gokstad ship (900)
Built in: Norway
10. Oseberg Ship (820)
Built in: Norway
9. Nydam Mose (310-320)
Built in: Nordic tribal area
8. Arles Rhône 3 (1st century AD)
Built in: Ancient Rome
7. Sea of Galilee Boat (120 BC - 50 AD)
Built in: Ancient Rome
6. Hjortspring boat (400-300 BC)
Built in: Nordic tribal area
5. Kyrenia ship (400-300 BC)
Built in: Macedonia
4. Ma'agan Michael ship (400-500 BC)
Built in: Palaestina Prima
3. Dover Bronze Age Boat (1500 BC), the oldest substantially intact boat in the world
Built in: Prehistoric Britain
2. Khufu ship (2500 BC), one of the largest and best-preserved vessels from antiquity
Built in: Ancient Egypt
1. Pesse canoe, the world's oldest known boat (8040-7510 BC)
Built in: Mesolithic Europe
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