Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »
Countries
  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan
Cities
  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
General Israel Putnam Tombstone
The Bundesbüdchen sits outside Bonn's UN Campus and many of the Bonn Republic's converted government buildings.
Bundesbüdchen
In the Hanger
Grissom Air Museum
Drunken Lampposts at night
Drunken Lampposts
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
The Bundesbüdchen sits outside Bonn's UN Campus and many of the Bonn Republic's converted government buildings.
Bundesbüdchen
Food window and entrance of center.
Indian Arts Center
Steaming Tender Restaurant
Tiptree Jam Museum entrance.
Tiptree Jam Museum
The Reading Room blends the intimacy of an inviting bar with the inviting solace of a good bookstore.
The Reading Room
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
Check Out the Playlist for Our New Book
To Andrew Phung, Calgary is simultaneously a big city and a small town—in all the right ways.
Andrew Phung’s Favorite Calgary Spots
One of the gargoyles that adorns Oxford’s Magdalen College.
8 Gargoyles and Grotesques Hiding in Plain Sight
Only-in-Anchorage Winter Traditions

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All Iceland Garðar BA 64

Garðar BA 64

The oldest steel ship in Iceland has been beached for years and is now a rusting ruin.

Iceland

EricGrundhauser profile photo
Added By
Eric Grundhauser
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
The Garðar BA 64 at Patreksfjordur.   pictureproject / Alamy
The Garðar BA 64.   Jennifer Boyer
The Garðar BA 64 shipwreck.   Luca Temporelli
The Garðar at night.   Austin Matherne
June 2, 2023   alittlebrowndog / Atlas Obscura User
  Dominikus / Atlas Obscura User
BA64 in 2015   astrohans / Atlas Obscura User
  lukavandermeij / Atlas Obscura User
  lukavandermeij / Atlas Obscura User
  lukavandermeij / Atlas Obscura User
  astether / Atlas Obscura User
The Garðar BA 64   manoukvanderveen / Atlas Obscura User
Garðar BA 64 Is a Beautiful Tribute to Times Gone By   mindtonic / Atlas Obscura User
  Sarah shhhh-8675308
  PotatoAssassiin
  paya / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

Launched the same year that the Titanic met its final fate, the whaling ship that came to be known as Garðar BA 64 was a hulking hybrid of a ship, having both a powerful steam engine in addition to traditional sails.

Originally known as the Globe IV, the large ship was completed in Norway in 1912 as a state-of-the-art-at-the-time whaling vessel. The hull was specially reinforced to break through the icy Southern seas in which it operated and the powerful engine kept the boat sailing even in calm waters. During its active lifetime it was sold around to a number of different countries before finding an Icelandic owner after World War II. Once whaling restrictions became more widespread, Garðar BA 64 (a name it finally received in 1963) was used for fishing herring in the waters off of Iceland. 

After decades in faithful service to its bevy of owners, Garðar BA 64 was finally deemed unsafe for service in 1981 and as opposed to being scuttled, the old ship was run aground in Skápadalur Valley where it remains to this day, falling apart bit by bit. It is now a popular site for photographers and anyone looking for a lovely mix of Icelandic scenery and industrial ruin.

Places

Discover your next amazing Atlas Place.

Get more unusual and extraordinary places each week with the Atlas Obscura Places newsletter.

Your newsletter subscriptions with us are subject to Atlas Obscura's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Know Before You Go

On Beach accessible by road 612

Community Contributors

EricGrundhauser profile photo

Added By

EricGrundhauser

F furykid profile photo A aribrown profile photo N nkrempa profile photo M mindtonic profile photo

Edited By

furykid, aribrown, nkrempa, mindtonic...

  • F furykid profile photo furykid
  • A aribrown profile photo aribrown
  • N nkrempa profile photo nkrempa
  • M mindtonic profile photo mindtonic
  • A astether profile photo astether
  • P paya profile photo paya
  • Meg profile photo Meg
  • A astrohans profile photo astrohans
  • D Dominikus profile photo Dominikus
  • M manoukvanderveen profile photo manoukvanderveen
  • A alittlebrowndog profile photo alittlebrowndog
  • Curious Crow profile photo Curious Crow
  • lukavandermeij profile photo lukavandermeij

Published

March 21, 2013

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • http://stuckiniceland.com/westfjords/a-rusty-fate-for-a-century-old-steel-giant/
  • http://not-about-books.blogspot.com/2012/05/things-to-see-in-iceland-garar-ba-64.html

Related Tags

Shipwrecks Ships Ruins Beaches
Garðar BA 64
612
Iceland
65.5162, -23.836893

Nearby Places

Skrímslasetrið

Bíldudalur, Iceland

miles away

Samúel Jónsson's Art Farm

Iceland

miles away

Selárdalur Valley

Iceland

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Iceland

Iceland

Europe

Places 164
Stories 43

Nearby Places

Skrímslasetrið

Bíldudalur, Iceland

miles away

Samúel Jónsson's Art Farm

Iceland

miles away

Selárdalur Valley

Iceland

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Iceland

Iceland

Europe

Places 164
Stories 43

Related Stories and Lists

18 Shipwrecks You Can See Without Getting Your Feet Wet

List

By Gemma Tarlach

Related Places

  • Beached Wreck of the Warship Grom II

    Hel, Poland

    Beached Wreck of the Warship Grom II

    The rusting hulk of a Soviet warship sits on a Polish beach.

  • Rimel Beach

    Menzel Jemil, Tunisia

    Rimel Beach

    An eerie ship cemetery with gunfire as a soundtrack.

  • A rusty shipdeck sits submerged in the sand along a beach

    Manzanillo, Costa Rica

    Yicel Shipwreck

    An intentionally grounded cargo ship remains half-buried in the sand.

  • Shipwreck

    Mauritania

    Shipwreck

    On a secluded beach is one of the few shipwrecks left on the shores of Mauritania.

  • Cemitério de navios - The Ship Cemetery

    Panguila, Angola

    Cemitério de Navios (The Ship Cemetery)

    Abandoned ships along a deserted beach feel like the set of a post-apocalyptic thriller.

  • Trollskogen

    Borgholm, Sweden

    Trollskogen (The Troll Forest)

    Crooked windswept pines give this old forest an enchanted and magical look.

  • Waves hitting scrap.

    Oxnard, California

    La Jenelle Park

    Rusty pieces of metal jutting out of a breakwater are all that's visible of the 12,500-ton ocean liner that capsized just off the beach.

  • Passages shipwreck on Jurby Beach.

    Isle of Man

    The Passages Shipwreck

    The remains of the wrecked steam trawler can be found on the beach at low tide.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2026 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.