The ship (Norwegian: Kvalsundskipet) is an ancient vessel which was discovered embedded in a marsh on Kvalsund in Herøy, Møre og Romsdal near Ålesund in 1920, along with a smaller rowboat called Kvalsundferingen. It is considered of a much earlier construction than either the Oseberg ship or the Gokstad ship, both of which date to the ninth century. The Kvalsund ship dates to 690AD. The ship wich was a warship, was broken completely in the straits and burried as a sacrifice to the gods.
The ship featured a detachable rudder on one side that could be removed in shallow water, and its shape strongly suggests it had a sail - if so, it would be the first Scandinavian ship discovered to have one.
The ship is 18 meters long and 3.2 meters at its broadest. It is built of oak with ribs of pine. The ship could lead seal, but it is not found any trace of mast mounting. The many parts were dig up by archaeologist Haakon Shetelig, and engineer Frederick Johannessen drew a reconstruction of the ship. In 1973 Sigurd Bjørkedal built a replica of the large Kvalsund ship.
