A Norwegian Renaissance Two Ships, a Shipyard and a Pioneering Legacy by OlafT. Engvig Ten years ago in Sea History (SH 64, pp
4H7), OlafEngvigreported on the initial stages of the restoration of the Norwegian steam schooner Va:rdalen. He returned the vessel to Trondheim, the port from which she was launched in 1891, and brought together skilled craftsmen and unemployed youth in an abandoned repair yard for a job-training program funded by local government. Today, the vessel is in a shipyard in Rissa undergoing the final stages ofrestoration that will allow her to voyage once again in her home waters and elsewhere.
T
wo ships representing the pioneering spirit of two different cenruries are sharing a shipyard in Norway. T he docks at Fosen Mekaniske Verksteder in Rissa are witnessing old and new in ship design and engineering with the restora-
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tion of a 110-year-old cargo ship and the building of a vessel showcasing new developments in the concept of seaborne homes. The first Pacific steam schooner was built in San Francisco in 1888 to serve in the lumber industry on the West Coast of the US. T hese hybrid vessels powered by sail and steam carried cargo and passengers along the coast crewed predominandy by the so-called "Scandinavian Navy" of recent immigrants. T hree years later, Vt£rdalen became the fi rst European copy of the new ship type. In 189 1, shipbuilders and designers came together at T rondhjcms Mck. Verksted to furth er develop this American inve ntion fo r the lumber industry in Norway. While the early steam schooners on the American West Coast were built enti rely of wood , Vt£rdalen was constructed in steel and iron. What the builders of the Vt£rdalen came
up with proved , in fact, to be a proto type for the world tonnage of today. It was a cargo/passenger vessel in steel, with th e engine, superstructure and passenger accommodations all the way aft. In the 1890s, she was not considered a real ship, but a barge fo r lumber, and it earned her several derogatory nicknames. In those days a steamer was expected to be "balanced," with the power plant, wheel, charthouse and funnel in the middle of the ship and at least one mas t on each side. A raised forecasde and poop at each end were also included in commo n ship design. The odd-looking Vt£rdalen, however, with her 8. 5-by-2.75-meter hatch in the middle of the ship proved to be a winner just like her American sis ters. She managed to make a pro fir when all competing vessels steamed in the red o r went bankrupt. T his first little No rwegian lumber schooner, providing postal services and inexpensive tickets, steamed in regular fjord routes with passengers, cargo and livestock for 56 years and continued as a coastal freighter for another 30 years before she finally was laid up at 86 years old. Fosen Mekaniske Verksteder in Rissa, where the V£rdafen is today, is located only twen ty miles from the Tro ndheim yard where she was built. T he W orld being fitted out with custom- She has fi nally come home for the las t part made condominiums in the final stages of of her restoration. Next to this innovation of a time long construction. (Alfphotos courtesy the author.) gone, another p roject materialized. The World, owned by ResidenSea, is another prototype, the lo ng-time dream of Knut Ulstein Kloster, Jr. , the man who transfo rmed the laid- up France into the cruise ship Norway. New challenges and setbacks came with his plan for a ship with spacious luxury apartments on seven decks for people who want to spend part of the year "living at sea around the world. " In a fierce international competition Fosen won the contract fo r The Wo rld, a vessel which received the No rdic shipping magazine Skipsrevyen' s Ship of the Year Award for 2001. The World set out on her first voyage in M arch. Coastal skipper Jens Bye opened the yard in 196 1 to build improved coastal tonnage. Today it is headed by his daughter, Anna Synn0ve Bye. Rissa is a rural communi ty acflOss the fjord from Trondheim, best knO\wn fo r its many farms, but today fo rmer fai rmers and farmhands are ship builders, vworking on big passenger SEA HISTQ)RY 101 , SUMMER 2002