During the age of industrial whaling in Grytviken, ships were driven by steam engine, then later the diesel engine. Rope for rigging was replaced by wire and chains. ……………remained critical to whaling.

The most common form is laid or twisted rope, which generally consists of three strands. On ships, when a rope has a specific purpose, it becomes a ‘line’. This three-strand method was used in whale line, which has in turn been made of hemp, manila and nylon.

Flexible, nylon whale line was attached to the harpoons that were thrown or fired by the harpooner at the prow of the ship. It extended to around 220 metres and was known as the foreløper. This was followed by a further seven 220 metre manila lines to make up a total of over a mile of whale line.