The ‘Stelmar 2’ currently serves as a guard ship for the Stella Maris Scout Group in Rotterdam. There are more than 1,000 Scouting groups in the Netherlands, including about 250 groups for water scouts.

It took about five years to convert this freighter, which used to transport mostly sand and gravel, into a ship suitable for water scouts. Under the name “Five Brothers,” the ship sailed with cargo from 1930 to 2004, but for the last seventeen years of that period it was used as a supply ship for large ships.

While the renovation is complete, there is still one more technical installation on the wish list: a bow thruster. After all, that makes maneuvering a ship like this much easier. The “Stelmar 2” sails with water scouts throughout the Netherlands.