THE HEART OF REYKJAVÍK
SF Marina’s most well-known installation in Iceland is probably the Beluga Whale Sanctuary in Vestmannaeyjar (Westman Islands), but one of the most challenging installations to date is the one in Suðurbugt, the old harbour area in Reykjavík. The old harbour is the heart of the city and for a long time it was the cornerstone of the Icelandic trawling industry. Although it is still an important part of the Port of Reykjavík, fishing boats have in recent years been gradually replaced by tourism and whale watching vessels.
Suðurbugt has been protected by a floating breakwater from SF Marina since 1992. In 2020, when the owners were looking to redevelop the old harbour, they once again enlisted SF Marina to install a new, heavier wave attenuator. The new 80-metre-long unit is made up of four 20-metre-long, 5-metre-wide pontoons. The old breakwater was transformed into two 40-metre-long docks, providing berths for tour operators. To complete the installation, 12-metre-long fingers, mounted at a 30° angle to the dock, will be fitted at a later stage. The new breakwater has its work cut out as the weather in Iceland is notoriously changeable and Reykjavík can be very windy – gale force winds gusting at thirty metres per second are common, especially in winter. In Suðurbugt the fetch is almost five kilometres before it hits the breakwater at an angle of 60 degrees. A force to be reckoned with!
The floating breakwater was designed and manufactured by SF Marina in Sweden and distributed locally under licence by Króli ehf., based in Garðabæ, Iceland.
