The world’s oldest civil training ship has once again docked in Stornoway on its yearly expedition to deliver maritime education to young people, 144 years after her first incarnation made her maiden voyage.

An improved version of The Georg Stage which sails under the Danish flag, was launched in 1934 replacing the original which first set sail in 1882. Her length overall (LOA) is 51.21 metres and her width is 8.51 metres.

The three-masted vessel is named after Danish ship-owner Frederik Stage’s son Georg, who died from tuberculosis in 1880 aged just 23. Two years later, the foundation ’Georg Stages Minde’ was formed and the eponymous training ship was built.

The idea to build a training ship was developed in the 1800s as the Danish merchant navy was in desperate need of skilled mariners due to high demands on goods.

Today, a depiction of young Georg Stage prevails on the ship. And the crews still sail under the original figurehead of him, which dates from the first 1880s ship.

The foundation’s purpose, it reports, is the same then as it is now: “to provide young people wishing to set out to sea with their first practical maritime education on board a custom-built training ship”.

 The crew "comprises 63 young people and 10 experienced mariners", the foundation states, "all living and working closely together".

Georg Stage is one of the world’s two sailing maritime schools and provides a STCW certificate upon completion.