Iceland Travel GuideLOCAL TRAVEL AGENCY IN ICELAND
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Iceland Travel GuideLOCAL TRAVEL AGENCY IN ICELAND
My trip
Talk to a local
Garðar BA 64 is the rusting hull of a steel ship built in Norway in 1912, beached on the shore at Skápadalur in the southern Westfjords, on Route 612 near Patreksfjörður. It is free to visit, open all year, with parking beside it, and most people spend 20–30 minutes.
Garðar BA 64 is widely described as the oldest steel ship in Iceland. It was launched in Norway in 1912, the same year the Titanic sank, as the whaling ship Globe IV. It had a hull reinforced for icy waters and a steam engine as well as sails. It was later used for herring fishing in Iceland. In 1981 it was judged unsafe for service and was beached at Skápadalur instead of being scrapped.
Since then salt and weather have turned the hull rust-orange. It is a popular photography stop on the road towards Látrabjarg and the Hnjótur museum, and it stands out against the water and the hills behind it.
The ship was built in 1912 in Norway as a steam-powered whaling vessel called Globe IV. It could also carry sail, which made it a hybrid of the old and new ways of going to sea. Over the years it was sold on several times and sailed under different names and flags. It came to Iceland after the Second World War, was used for herring fishing, and was given the name Garðar BA 64 in 1963. As whaling was restricted and the ship aged, it became harder to keep in work. After nearly seven decades at sea it was declared unsafe in 1981 and run ashore at Skápadalur, where it has been slowly rusting ever since.
Route 612 is a coastal road that can be affected by wind and snow, so check road conditions on umferdin.is, especially outside summer.
The red-brown hull loses a little more paint and plate with every storm, and that is the appeal. You can walk all the way round the ship, so take your time and try different angles: the bow against the fjord, the full length of the hull from the side, or close-ups of the rust and rivets.
Sunrise and sunset give the best light, when low sun falls straight on the hull. In midsummer that means very late in the evening or very early in the morning. In the middle of a summer day you may share the place with other visitors and photographers, but in this quiet corner of the Westfjords you will often have the ship to yourself.
Follow the signs and do not go inside or climb on the ship. The steel is sharp and rusted through in places.
There are no facilities at the wreck. The Hnjótur museum further along Route 612 has a café and toilets in season, and Patreksfjörður has fuel, shops and places to eat.
Patreksfjörður is the nearest town with hotels and guesthouses, and a good base for exploring this part of the Westfjords.
It was launched in Norway in 1912 as the whaling ship Globe IV, and it is described as the oldest steel ship in Iceland.
No, the hull is rusted and unsafe to climb on; it is viewed from the shore.
No, it is free, there is parking beside it, and it can be visited at any time.
By car on Route 612 from Patreksfjörður, the road towards Örlygshöfn and Látrabjarg. There is no public transport this far into the Westfjords.
On the shore at Skápadalur, at the inner end of Patreksfjörður in the southern Westfjords, beside Route 612 close to where it leaves Route 62.
It was built as a Norwegian whaling ship, Globe IV, with a steam engine and sails. In Iceland it was used for fishing until it was taken out of service in 1981.
