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M/K Erkna
Fishing Boat
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M/K Erkna
About the boat
  • Year of construction: 1907
  • Boat builder: Ålesund Mek Workshop
  • Proper name: Erkna
  • Boat type: Fishing vessel
  • Material: Iron
  • Length: 73.1 feet
  • Gross tonnage: 58.97
  • Means of propulsion: Engine
  • Engine type: Callesen engine 260 hp
  • Municipality: Bergen
  • Team affiliation: Norwegian Association for Ship Protection
  • Team affiliation other: Herøy coastal team
M/K Erkna
MK Erkna, M 144 H0, was built in 1907 at Ålesund Mekaniske Verkstad. It is of the cutter type and built of clinker iron plates, but was later repaired with welding. Originally it was rigged as a galeas, but has later been rebuilt with a cabin cover at the front and a rudder structure at the back of the boat. The hull is unchanged except for the fact that it is affixed.

The boat was originally equipped with a steam engine, but had a 60HP Union installed at Hatlø Mek Workshop in Ulsteinvik in 1940. At the same time, the Erkna was requisitioned by the German Kriegsmarine and stolen from the workshop on 17 November 1941. The resistance movement was responsible for the takeover and sent the Erkna to Shetland with sixty people from Norway. This was the largest group to go to England on a single ship during the war.

M/K Erkna In recent years, the vessel was used for whaling and it may be Norway’s oldest floating whale boat. Erkna was built as a fishing boat and used for nets and longline fishing. The first owner was Mogstad & Co. in Ålesund, and it was sold on first to Oscar Larsen (Ålesund) in 1918, and in 1926 to P/R Laurits Molværsmyr in Langevag. She came to Herøy in 1939 when Mathias Myklebust bought her.

During World War 2, Erkna was given a central role in the resistance struggle. In its first phase, the Erknan was used to transport fugitives from Norway over to Shetland. In 1942 she sailed three trips to the Norwegian coast with the Shetland gang but after that she was thought to be too recognisable and Erknan was put in as a ‘travalry boat’ that carried crew from the Greenock base near Glasgow to the warships outside.

In 1945, the owner brought Erknan home from Buckie and took her to Hatlø Mek Workshop in Ulsteinvik for repairs. Five years later, she was sold to Sigurd and Anton Reite and others at Herøy and in 1965 a Union 140 engine was installed. The last people to actively fish were Alfred Remøy and his sons Erling and Atle, who took over her in 1977 in P/R Erkna. By then she had been given a basking cannon in addition to a ground deck that was removed later.

In 1984, she was laid up at Eggesbønes and was condemned as a fishing vessel but there was no shortage of ideas for further use. One of them was to put the Erkna ashore and use it as a tourist office. Until Herøy Coastal Association took over the boat with support from Herøy Business Forum in 2008, Arnfinn Karlsen in Tjørvag had worked continuously on an extensive restoration after he took over Erkna in 1986. During his tenure, the vessel got its fifth engine, a 260 HP Callesen diesel.

The Coastal Association was allowed to take over the vessel in exchange for it being taken care of according to antiquarian principles. Atle Audun Remey took over Erkna in the spring of 2013 and the boat got the coastal culture center in Sandviken, Bergen as it’s new home port. It is now a floating cultural monument and restoration must be done according to antiquarian guidelines.

About the boat
  • Year of construction: 1907
  • Boat builder: Ålesund Mek Workshop
  • Proper name: Erkna
  • Boat type: Fishing vessel
  • Material: Iron
  • Length: 73.1 feet
  • Gross tonnage: 58.97
  • Means of propulsion: Engine
  • Engine type: Callesen engine 260 hp
  • Municipality: Bergen
  • Team affiliation: Norwegian Association for Ship Protection
  • Team affiliation other: Herøy coastal team
M/K Erkna