In 1986, a group of citizens of Wilmington, Delaware, established the "Kalmar Nyckel" Foundation, whose primary source of funding is from the taxpayers of the State of Delaware, plus donations from corporations and individuals. The foundation designed, built, and launched a replica of "Kalmar Nyckel". The modern ship, designed by naval architects Thomas C. Gillmer and Iver Franzen, with additional help from Melbourne Smith, Joel Welter, and Ken Court, was built at a shipyard in Wilmington on the Christina River near the original 1638 Swedish settlers' landing site at Fort Christina. She was launched on September28, 1997, and commissioned on May 9, 1998. The re-creation measures on deck and overall, with a beam, a draft, and a displacement of 300 tons.