A replica of a 17th-century Spanish galleon is now open to visitors in Douglas Harbour.

The Galeón Andalucía is a full-scale reconstruction of the vessels once used by the Spanish Crown to explore and trade across the globe between the 16th and 18th centuries.

Although the replica ship was due to open on Wednesday (July 2), all scheduled visits on its opening day had to be cancelled due to tidal conditions.

However, the ship eventually opened on Thursday at 4:30pm to a long line of eager visitors.

According to Vela Cuandra productions, the company behind the vessel, ships of this type formed the Fleet of the Indies, which linked Spain with the Americas and Asia through vast maritime trade routes, including the Manila Galleon Route between the Philippines and Mexico.

Traditionally the vessels carried sailors, settlers and goods across the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, as well as through the Mediterranean, Caribbean and South China Seas.

The replica vessel was launched in 2010 after 17 months of construction involving a team of 150 people.

The vessel has been built using a fibreglass-based system overlaid with pine and iroko wood, thought to be the first time this method had been used on a 500-ton ship designed for ocean sailing.

At 49 metres in length and 10 metres across, the galleon has four masts, six sails and is crewed by a minimum of 15 people and boasts an average speed of seven knots.

Since its launch, the replica has retraced many of those historic routes, visiting ports around the world.

During the time the ship is docked at Douglas Harbour until Monday (July 7), visitors are able to pay a fee to climb on board and explore its decks.

This includes an upper, middle and lower deck at both the front and back of the ship.