Gardar BA 64
Iceland's oldest steel ship, run aground deliberately in 1981 and left to rust in a Westfjords bay.
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Gardar BA 64 was built in Norway in 1912 as a whaler and worked for decades under different owners and names before ending up in Iceland, where it is counted as the oldest steel ship in the country. By 1981 it was finished, and rather than scrap it the owners ran it up onto the shore at Skapadalur, where it has stayed since - upright, holed, rusting through, with the sea working on it from below and the weather from above. It sits directly beside the road on the way to Latrabjarg and Raudisandur, which is why almost everyone driving that route stops. The hull is unsafe to enter and gets less safe every year.
What you actually see
- Iceland's oldest steel ship - built in Norway in 1912.
- Beached deliberately in 1981 - run ashore rather than scrapped.
- Rusting through - holed and thinning year by year.
- Right beside the road - on the way to Latrabjarg and Raudisandur.
When to go
May to September, when the roads west are open. An hour.
Honest expectations
Climbing inside is genuinely dangerous - the plating is rotten and edges are sharp. There is no barrier and no supervision. Parking is a roadside pull-off. The site is nothing more than the ship.
Nearby
Patreksfjordur is east; Latrabjarg and Raudisandur are west.
What to pack for Gardar BA 64
Chosen from what this place is for. Tap a kit for the full checklist.
Opening times, ticket prices and seasonal closures change - check the official source before you go: official site.