(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-04-10 20:46

DEN OEVER - A Viking ship made from ice-cream sticks set sail for England from the Netherlands on Tuesday.

A replica Viking ship made by Robert McDonald of the US from 15 million ice-cream sticks is launched for a test sail on the Markermeer in Lelystad July 13, 2007. [Agencies]

The 15-metre (50-foot) long ship, named after the Norse god Thor, is made from 15 million recycled ice-cream sticks glued together by US-born stuntman Robert McDonald, his son and more than 5,000 children.

"If you can dream it you can do it ... I want to teach children that anything is possible," McDonald said.

Badly injured as a child in a gas explosion that killed the rest of his family, he has loaded his ship with cuddly toys and plans to reach London and visit children in hospitals.

He and his crew hope to cross the Atlantic later on the ancient Viking route to North America via Iceland and Greenland.