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History of Haganes The HAGANES has had many lives and many names. She was built in 1907 as a whaling ship by Nyland Verksted in Oslo. Her building number was 168. She was delivered to her first owners H. Ellefsen in Mjoafjord, Iceland in March 1907 and named GUNNAR HAMUNDARSON. In 1912 she was sold to New Zealand Whaling Co. LTD of Larvik, Norway and renamed WHANGAREI. In 1918 she was taken over by CHR. Nielsen & Co. also in Larvik, Norway. She was renamed KYA when she was sold to Statens Havnevesen of Oslo, Norway.
In 1928 she was sold to CHR. Bjelland & Co. in Stavanger, Norway and renamed SMART. Although she was offically listed as a fishing vessel, she was converted to a yacht for the chairman of "King Oscar" Sardines. In the picture below, in Stavanger, she is the vessel in the far left of the photograph. In 1938 as war was building in Europe, she was chartered by the Norwegian Navy and used as a watch boat. In April of 1940, she was taken by the "DIE DEUTCHE KRIEGSMARINE" (Nazi Germany's Navy) and converted to a patrol boat. It is understood she was refitted with a 2000 hp engine and had a top speed of 18 knots. At the end of the war she was returned to her owners in Norway.
In 1947 she was sold to A/S Seilas (Johan Birkeland) of Bergen, Norway. Her main engine was changed from 3 cylinder steam to a 12 cylinder 380 horsepower Paaxman Diesel. The current engine - a 280 horsepower MAN B & W Alpha was installed in 1964. It is believed at this point she was converted to a coastal freighter whose basic shape and ship layout endures today. From then until 2003 she had several owners with Gunnar Havsgaard operating the vessel beginning in 1975 for the next 25 years. Gunnar renamed her HAGANES after the name of his town.
The manning laws in Norway changed and by the year 2000 HAGANES required a crew of four. Her economic viability died. Between 1998 and 2003 she was bought and sold many times, and was literally up for sale continuously during this period. Basically, no commercial use could be found. No preservation societies stepped forward. HAGANES was deteriorating rapidly. She was rescued and returned to the beautiful girl she once was and she now lives a new life in the warm and clear waters of Southeast Asia and the Pacific. She is loved and cared for by her owners who have been navigating the world for fifteen years.
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