Stavanger Maritime Museum is a division of Stavanger Museum. The Maritime Museum specializes in the maritime history of the southwestern part of Norway. The museum has extensive collections of artifacts, archives, photographs, and other documentation from shipping, shipbuilding, and coastal culture. The Maritime Museum owns and operates two sailing ships that are actively used to illustrate our cultural maritime heritage: the sloop Anna af Sand that was built in 1848, and the Colin Archer yacht Wyvern from 1897.

Stavanger Maritime Museum is the administrative body for the Cultural Heritage Act. This means that the institution is responsible for the protection of all cultural monuments and material in the sea within the boundaries of the Rogaland county.

Stavanger Maritime Museum is an active member of several international professional networks, including the Association of North Sea Cities that arranges maritime history conferences within the North Sea region. The Maritime Museum is also represented in the executive council of the International Congress of Maritime Museums (ICMM).