This award-winning museum is located on the historic Shiprow and incorporates Provost Ross's House, which was built in 1593 by master-mason Andrew Jamieson and later extended to the south in 1710. It became the residence of Provost John Ross of Arnage in 1702 who was a ship owner.

During the nineteenth century the building was divided into tenements and was reduced to a derelict condition by 1950. The House was acquired by the National Trust for Scotland and then leased to Aberdeen City Council in 1984 when it became the Aberdeen Maritime Museum.

Within a few years of the opening of the Maritime Museum in Provost Ross's House the Council purchased the Trinity Congregational Church with a view to converting this 1877 building into a major extension to the museum, which opened in its current layout in 1997.

The collections at Aberdeen Maritime Museum reflect the lives of the people who built and sailed ships in Aberdeen, fished the seas and worked in the harbour from the medieval period to today’s busy oil port.

Aberdeen Maritime Museum houses a unique collection covering shipbuilding, fast sailing ships, fishing and port history. It is also the only place in the UK where you can see displays on the North Sea oil and gas industry. The museum is also proud to display works by contemporary artists such as George Mackie, who has captured the changes brought to the city with the advent of the oil industry over the past 30 years.