Hafnarfjörður rescue team takes delivery of new boat

Björgunarsveit Hafnarfjarðar, a rescue team, has taken delivery of a new 10-metre boat built for search and rescue work in Faxaflói Bay. The details were reported by mbl.is.

The boat, named Fiskaklettur, is 3.4 metres wide and is expected to reach speeds of up to 30 knots once fitted with a 400-horsepower engine. It is equipped with navigation and communications systems, thermal imaging cameras and a depth sounder.

“It is a comfortable boat that is easy on the crew and should be suitable for most assignments,” said Kristján Arason, a member of the rescue team’s boat unit. The unit has 20 members, six of whom hold skipper qualifications. At least three people must be aboard when the boat goes out, and usually there will be four or five.

The boat unit handles about 20 assignments a year, including assisting smaller boats and search operations, mainly in the southern part of Faxaflói Bay. The team is beginning an intensive training programme on the new vessel.

Preparations for the purchase began about three years ago. The team sought bids from boatbuilders in Iceland and abroad before reaching an agreement with Trefjar hf. in Hafnarfjörður. The rescue team is spending about 150 million Icelandic krónur on the boat.

The name Fiskaklettur recalls one of the two rescue teams that merged around the turn of the century to form Björgunarsveit Hafnarfjarðar. A crag called Fiskaklettur, which historically marked Hafnarfjörður harbour from the north and west, stands by the town’s North Quay.

The boat is in Reykjavík harbour and will be on display during the weekend alongside Björgun 2026, a conference on search and rescue and the work of emergency response teams, held at Harpa.