Guiness: DFDS Has Built World's Largest Lego Ship

On Wednesday, Guiness World Records confirmed that ferry operator DFDS has built the world's largest model ship made out of Legos, the Jubilee Seaways. 

The vessel is small craft-sized at 40 feet LOA and 1.5 tonnes displacement. 

She is supported on a flatbed trailer and is currently on a publicity tour of Europe by truck. Her intinerary includes the Tall Ships Regatta in Blyth, followed by a trip to the continent and a return through Dover and London. DFDS has not announced any plans for launching her, but the firm did hold an official naming ceremony, complete with a Lego champagne bottle. Inge Grønvold, head of DFDS’ parent company the Lauritzen Foundation, sponsored the vessel and performed the christening.

DFDS CEO Niels Smedegaard said that the record-breaking attempt was a way for the firm to celebrate 150 years of operation. "It has been important for us for colleagues from all locations in Europe across national boundaries to be given the opportunity to make their mark on this beautiful ship. I am proud that together we have reached this goal," he said. 

“This is perhaps the first time we have built the whole ship ourselves rather than had work done by other partners,” he told CPH Post. “After five hundred ships of steel, this is our first built out of Lego.”

The ship took 900 hours to build. Lego professionals guided the attempt but thousands of DFDS employees got a chance to pitch in for the shipbuilding effort by constructing big blocks of 48 standard Lego bricks each. 

Jesper Aagesen, Head of New Building at DFDS, provided the design, which is unique and not based on the company's current ships. 

Over one million Lego pieces went into the Jubilee’s construction. For reference, the record-holding Lego structure (of any kind) is a 23-ton, 5 million-brick Star Wars fighter built by Lego’s own master builders.