''Hvalur 6'' is an Icelandic
whaling ship
A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales.
Terminology
The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Jap ...
built in 1946 in England by
Smith's Dock Company
Smith's Dock Company, Limited, often referred to simply as Smith's Dock, was a British shipbuilding company.
History
The company was originally established by Thomas Smith who bought William Rowe's shipyard at St. Peter's in Newcastle upon Tyn ...
. It has been a part of the
Icelandic whaling fleet operated and owned by the company
Hvalur hf. since 1961. It was bought, along with its sister ship ''
Hvalur 7'', to replace the aging ''Hvalur 2'' and ''Hvalur 3'' which were built between 1920 and 1930.
1986 sinking
In November 1986, ''Hvalur 6'' along with ''Hvalur 7'' were sunk in Reykjavík harbour by anti-whaling activists from the
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) is a non-profit, marine conservation activism organization based in Friday Harbor, Washington, Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, Washington, in the United States. Sea Shepherd employs direct action t ...
. Both ships were raised a few days later, but have not gone on a whale hunt since. While the steam engines where undamaged, the ships electrical wirings, interiors and various devices where damaged by the salt. While feasible, the ships have yet to be fully repaired and have never gone whaling after the sinking. As of 2015, they are stored on dry land next to the company's whaling station in
Hvalfjörður
Hvalfjörður (, "whale fjord") is situated in the west of Iceland between Mosfellsbær and Akranes. The fjord is approximately long and wide.
The origin of the name Hvalfjörður is uncertain. Certainly today there is no presence of whales i ...
, north of Reykjavík, where they are securely anchored and connected to electricity and heating.
Notable captains
*Ingólfur Þórðarson
[ ]
References
External links
Skipaskrá - The Icelandic ship registry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hvalur 6
1946 ships
Ships built in England
Whaling ships
Ships of Iceland
Whaling in Iceland