The corvette <i>Africa</i> : An episode on Känsö quarantine station 1817

This article examines the 1817 voyage of the Ottoman corvette Africa from Alexandria to Sweden, focusing on the significant challenges faced by the quarantine commission in Gothenburg and the Känsö quarantine station. Carrying Egyptian goods intended to promote trade with the Swedish Board of Commerce, Africa arrived amid ongoing plague outbreaks in the Mediterranean, while the quarantine station still remained under construction. The newly formed quarantine commission therefore navigated extraordinary measures to prevent the spread of disease while safeguarding the future of the quarantine station and commercial and diplomatic relations with the Ottoman Empire. By considering the quarantine of Africa within broader Swedish–Ottoman relations, the article contributes to the under-researched history of Sweden's Mediterranean trade during the first half of the nineteenth century and the development of permanent maritime quarantine practices.