Towards the end of the 1920s, the Greenlandic Government started to investigate the opportunities for establishing its own shipyard on the west coast of Greenland. Until then, it was customary to beach ships – i.e. pull them close to the shore at high tide and lay them on their sides at low tide.
Not only was this an impractical approach, but it was also hard on the ship hulls. For major repairs, ships had to make the quite risky voyage to Denmark – risky, because the ships only set off when repairs were absolutely essential.
Construction
Sisimiut (Holsteinsborg) was chosen as the place best suited to a shipyard, and work started on the project in 1930. As the male population of the island was largely taken up with hunting and fishing, the workers on the building site were primarily female. On 18 August 1931, the first ship was pulled ashore marking the “official opening” of the first repair yard on Greenland.
Great energy and initiative
The 1930s and 1940s were busy times at the shipyard, with one building after another being constructed on the ever-expanding shipyard grounds. In addition to repairs and the construction of small boats, there was also room for repairing dog-sleds, making coffins and much more – there was even a smoking house and a hairdresser’s at the shipyard. Other activities included the manufacture of whale-oil presses, bullet-making and landing whales.
As a result of the explosive development at the shipyard, the post-war years saw the establishment of an apprentices’ home and a technical college. This provided apprentices with a very thorough technical education and facilitated the development of a staff of skilled craftsmen.
At the beginning of the 1950s, the present boat hall was built, and the shipyard was thoroughly renovated. It is this hall that will now bear the name: “Greenland Innovation Centre”.
Additional information
At Sisimiut Museum, work is well underway to collect items from the shipyard to document and highlight the work and activities that took place there. Moreover, Sanaartornemik Ilinniarfik has a small poster exhibition focusing on the early days of Greenland Technical College at the end of the 1940s.
