29/4/2026

The tugboat Jakob has been given new tasks: Gives schoolchildren an insight into Denmark's largest commercial port

Every year hundreds of students visit the tug Jakob where they learn about the port of Aarhus and life at sea.

Although retired from its original duties, the tugboat Jakob still plays an important role for the port. Today it is used to sail schoolchildren around, while the staff on board tell about the history of the boat and the Port of Aarhus.

For many of the children who visit Jakob, it is the first time they experience the area from the inside. And that is a key part of the purpose.

We hope first and foremost that they have a nice trip, but we also hope they get smarter about how it all works around the port. It's also about gaining an understanding of the community they're part of,

says Mia Bladt Christensen, a teacher at Koch's School.

The tugboat Jakob was built in 1943. It has towed countless ships, but today it is used for teaching about the port and the history of the boat.

3.a from Koch's School in Aarhus is one of the school classes that have visited the old tugboat. They set off from the dock at Dokk1 and got very close to both ships and cranes.

And it was a bit of an eye-opener for several of the students.

It was amazing to see the ships up close. They were much bigger than I thought. It was really fun,

says Karla, 9 years old, who was on the boat trip.

Along the way, the crew told about the history of the port and its importance to both Aarhus and Denmark. At the same time, the students gained insight into the many possibilities in the maritime world and what life at sea really is like.

Many of them know very little about the maritime when they arrive. Some have never sailed before. We hope that they will have a relationship with the port, because it is important to all of us and it belongs to the city. And maybe some of them will want to become seafarers or work in shipping one day,

says Lars Lyngsø, who is a guide on Jakob.

Lars Lyngsø talks about the Port of Aarhus, while Jakob sails around the basins.

However, there are limits to how much you can sit and listen as a 9-year-old, so on a harbour tour with the tugboat, there is of course plenty of time for free play.