The Royal Danish Navy operates the 1.660 tons environmental vessel A561 Gunnar Seidenfaden, the second of the two such ships, which was named after him as a botanist. Organizationally, Gunnar Seidenfaden belongs to division 17 (2nd environmental division) in the 1st squadron. Built by Ørskov Christensen Stålskibsværft A/S, Frederikshavn, it was launched in 1981, and before 1996 belonged to the Ministry of the Environment. On 1 January 1996, the ship was transferred to the Royal Danish Navy. The vessel, which is painted in orange-red and cream colors to indicate their civilian purpose, has been on many occasions been deployed to fight oil pollution in Danish waters and also abroad, such as in 2002, when it participated in the clean-up after the sinking of the tanker Prestige off the northwest coast of Spain.