Too small to have any scrap value, too delapidated to interest a buyer the steamlaunch Frithiof lay forgotten at the Beckholmen shipyard in Stockholm. After many years of hard work and a sum of nearly ten millions SEK Frithiof has now emerged in its former glory.

In the autumn of 1998 Claes Insulander, captain on the steamboat Mariefred, had met KG Knutsson, engineer and steamship enthusiast, interested in obtaining and renovating an old steamboat. An interest he shared with the captain. Eventually they found Frithiof, which at the time belonged to the society Stiftelsen Skärgårdsbåten. This society had acquired the boat in order to save it for the afterworld but lacked the means to do anything about the old launch. KG Knutsson and his plans for renovation came as a godsend and the purchase was agreed and the sum was symbolic, one Swedish krona!
In the spring of 1999 Frithiof was laid up on Beckholmen and this was the beginning of a gigantic renovation where everything from keel to chimney was put back in working order.
- We wanted to do everything as exact and proper as we possibly could and with the highest and best quality throughout, says Claes Insulander. Any amount of details was manufactured anew, brass mountings, MASKINTELEGRAF, even the hinges onboard the boat.
The fundamental idea permeating the whole concept was to put the steam-

engine in focus. The steam-engine is the original from 1897 and is now located in the middle of the boat for everyone to see.
- In the old days the steam-engine was built in so as not to disturb the passengers, says Claes Insulander. But KG Knutsson´´s leading idea has been to emphasize the importance of the steam-engine not only in trains and ships but in our entire industrial history. So, for historical and educational reasons the steam-engine is situated in such a manner that everybody can study all its details and thus understand how it works.
The first phase of renovation was completed in time for the 750 years anniversary of Stockholm in 2002 and Frithiof proudly took part in a splendid steamboat procession from the Royal Palace to the Town Hall.
For a couple of weeks Frithiof visited the town of Mariefred and maintained

weekend service between Mariefred and Taxinge-Näsby. But in the future Frithiof is destined for charter service in and around Stockholm.
Frithiof is certified to carry 62 passengers.