‘There’s a fascination frantic in a ruin that’s romantic’ – and what is more romantic than an old ship, a flying denizen of the high seas, reduced to a decaying wreck? Here are a few of my favourites from Iceland.
THE HÖFRUNGUR
Arkranes.
64°19′03.62″N 22°05′53.41″W
There is no obvious name left on this boat but she seems to be the Höfrungur (Dolphin) and she was built in Arkranes in 1955. She was once part of the herring fishing fleet and is a large wooden ship sitting out on a decaying dry dock in an industrial wasteland in Arkranes, about 50 km from Reykjavik by road.
The smell of drying fish hangs in the air. Sheep wool falls out between the boards and the metal bridge is rusty. There are traces of red and blue paint and the rudder and brass propeller are still intact. Curiously there is some piping running up the outside of the hull – maybe it was for refrigeration?
A knotted rope hangs down but it’s quite a climb. However, it is worth looking in the harbour behind: there are the evocative skeletons of 4 other boats, just ribs in the sand covered in seaweed and shells.
THE HVALUR 6 & 7
Hvalfjörður.
64°23′37.22″N 21°26′19.68″W
It was actually good to see these two obsolete beauties, whaling boats with consecutive numbers, beached next to the whaling station at Miðsandur in Hvalfjörður.
Described as Iceland’s 9/11 (maybe for whales), they were sunk by a ‘terrorist act’ in Reykjavik Harbour at 5 am on 9th November 1986.
Two men from the action group Sea Shepherd opened the stop cocks sending them to the bottom of the harbour. They were subsequently refloated but never used again.
Another boat escaped due to being in dry dock whilst the fourth had a night watchman on board.
The boys did good: earlier in the evening they had attacked the whaling factory at Miðsandur, some 50 km from Reykjavik, and completely disabled it.
By the time the police got to the boats at 7am, they were checked in on the 07.45 flight to Luxembourg, which, no doubt to their great relief, left on time.
In June of this year (2023) Iceland announced that it was suspending whaling, citing welfare concerns. The quota had been 209 fin (the next largest whale after the blue whale) and 217 minke whales.
‘There is no humane way to kill a whale at sea’, a Humane Society spokesman said.
However at the end of August the ban was lifted with new requirements put in place.
Hvalur is the only company that is still operating and their licence is up for renewal at the end of 2023. There are still hopes that it will not be renewed then and that there will be a permanent cessation – hopefully in future years there may be more obsolete whaling boats joining Hvalur 6 & 7.
THE SANDGERDI
Snaefellsnes Peninsula
64°54′59.63″N 23°48′20.62″W (approximately)
On the beach a few kilometres west of Stykkishólmur on the Snaefellsnes Peninsula, near Rif, we spotted the Sandgerdi due to her masts sticking up above the thick coastal grass. She is in a picturesque location with the glacier capped peak of Snaefell in the background.
A wooden boat with a metal control room, she is still intact and in reasonable condition. Obviously a fishing boat, her winch still swings widely.
A short rope leads up: it is fairly messy on board with old ropes and netting, although there is still a good anchor.
GARÐAR BA 64
Patreksfjördur.
65°31′00.36″N 23°50′12.5″W
No one can miss this large rusty boat as she sits high and dry at the head of the fjord, about 15 km outside Patreksfjördur. She is beside the main road leading to the Látrabjarg cliffs, one of the main birding and tourism sights in the West Fjords.
She was built in Norway in 1912 as a state of the art whaling vessel, with both a steam engine and sails. She was originally called the Globe IV and is the oldest steel ship in Iceland.
After ending her life in the herring fishing industry, she was deemed unsafe and run ashore in 1981 where she is now a popular tourist stop.
A large hole in the hull allows easy entry and it is possible to see remnants of the kitchens, mess room and bridge – I found it quite evocative looking out from the bridge to the mountains beyond, where once she had the oceans of the world ahead of her.
THE DANIEL
Siglufjördur, North Fjords.
66°08′54.74″N 18°54′13.45″W
Siglufjördur is a colourful little town in the north fjords, well known for its Herring Era Museum.
As we explored its harbour area we found this lovely old boat, which is sitting high and dry in an obsolete dry dock, which in itself is quite interesting.
The name is still visible and given the location, it is probably a safe bet that it was part of the herring fishing fleet.
UNKNOWN BOAT
Snaefellnes Peninsula
65°02′53.21″N 22°33′21.05″W
This boat was marked as a ‘ghost ship’ on Maps Me, but unfortunately was stranded offshore on one of the many little islands in Breiðafjördur, on the northern edge of the Snaefellnes Peninsula en route to Stykkishólmur.
A turning off the main road leads to a parking space from where a 500 m walk leads to the coast overlooking it.
Sadly we could not get near this boat to learn the finer details although she is most likely a fishing boat. However, she is still worth seeking out as she is in a beautiful place full of seaweedy smells, big skies and clear reflections in the sea of the bay.
AMERICAN LANDING CRAFT
Mjóifjörður, East Fjords
65°11′37.3″N 13°59′30.36″W
A long and winding gravel road with beautiful views drops down steeply to Mjóifjörður in the eastern fjords. It is worth pausing at the lovely Klifbrekkufossar waterfall en route, but once on the waters edge, a strange wreck catches the eye.
It is the rusty remains of a U.S. landing craft which was once used to ferry supplies to a remote radar station in the fjords.
She was later bought to Mjóifjörður to move herring remains, but as she was without her engines by that stage she proved rather unstable and was finally scrapped in 1966.
No much is left now other than the bare framework although it is still possible to climb onto the bridge where it is hard not to imagine these things packed with soldiers heading for Normandy and the D-Day beaches.
This one was destined for other things and instead has ended her days rather ignominiously in an Icelandic backwater.
DC-3 Aeroplane Wreck
Sólheimasandur
63°27′32.59″N 19°21′53.47″W
Ah the ‘plane! This a bit of a joker in the pack but it is probably the most visited wreck in Iceland – all due to Justin Bieber surfing on top in his video I’ll be there in 2000.
Surfing is definitely not allowed these days, nor is driving to it so anyone who wants to visit is faced with a 3.7 km walk, a rather tedious one, if flat, over the volcanic plain.
At the end, there is the fuselage of a DC-3 which crash landed in 1973 with no loss of life. It has been largely stripped, its nose and tail and all contents missing.
It sits on a desolate black plain at Sólheimasandur with nothing around it. The sea lies to its tail, mountains to its nose. It is adorned with stickers and graffiti.
But for all that, it is strangely compelling, the silver body and the empty windows standing out starkly against the background. If you are lucky you may get a cerulean sky and it is especially good at sunset.
The car park charges 750 kr and there is a shuttle bus option for 2,900 kr if you want to avoid the walk – small change for true Beliebers!
