Eric Wiberg - Nautical Author & Historian

Standing Before the Mast

Meet Nautical Author and Historian Eric Wiberg.

Born in New York in 1970, Eric Wiberg is a citizen of Sweden and the US. He is the author of over 20 books on maritime history - particularly in the Bahamas where he grew up.

He left the Bahamas at 13 for boarding schools in New England and enrolled at Boston College in 1989. He was hired to race to Bermuda in 1989, and in 1991 sailed as mate from Antigua to Belgium to attend Harris Manchester College, Oxford. In 1993 he self-published five collections of writings and set out on a voyage from Panama to New Zealand on a 68’ wooden boat, becoming captain in Galapagos. A year of travel was the basis for a coming-of-age memoir.

Eric earned his US Coast Guard 100-ton captain’s license in 1995. He moved to Singapore to operate a commercial fleet of tanker ships. After three years he returned to Newport where he would write off-season and deliver yachts to and from the Caribbean from spring to fall.

After his fourth round-world trip, he enrolled at Roger Williams School of Law on half-scholarship and passed the bar in 2005. Eric also earned a master’s degree in Marine affairs from University of Rhode Island. He has operated 120 vessels over 75,000 miles. He’s sailed to or from Bermuda over 30 times and sailed across two oceans.

Eric has had stints with Titan Salvage and Overseas Salvage in Freeport, Bahamas. And in 2010 he joined Tradewinds, the Norwegian shipping publication. From 2013 to 2019 Eric was in marketing for McAllister Towing in Manhattan, where he lived until 2019. He is on the New York Yacht Club Library Committee and the Steamship Historical Society board.

Eric has published over 100 articles, addressed 50 international audiences, and appeared on TV or film 7 times for audiences in Spain, France, Norway, and for the BBC. He has also been featured in Vanity Fair. US Congress leveraged his research in November 2019 to issue medals to 10 US Navy aviators for the sinking of U-84.

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Eric is active on Instagram where you can find him @ericwiberg

And be sure to check out his web site at ericwiberg.com

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