A ship with cranes against a blue sky.
Melbourne Harbour Trust floating crane, Endeavour loading 96 000 litre bulk fuel tanks for Mawson onto Nanok S, February 1981 Photo: Bob Reeves

Built in 1962 in Denmark by the Svenborg Skibsvaerft shipyards, the MV Nanok S played a support role in transporting supplies for the ANARE station rebuilding program. Accommodating only 20 passengers, the Nanok S was a modest addition compared to the two other ships in use during this period, the Nella Dan and the Thala Dan.

Specifications

  • Motor Vessel (MV)
  • Finnish Ice Class 1A
  • engine Mak. type MZV582Ak, single-acting, 10 cylinder, 4-stroke diesel. Auxiliary engines were 2 × 110kW 164 BHP diesel generator sets, 2 × 70kW 108 BHP diesel generator sets
  • length: 88.5 metres
  • breadth moulded: 12.75 metres
  • capacity: 3000 tons gross
  • bunker capacity: 752.7 cubic metres
  • average speed: 13.2 knots
  • passenger capacity: 20; crew: 24

Key Antarctic voyages

On its first trip south with ANARE in the summer of 1979–80, the Nanok S carried a contingent of naval personnel, the largest to form part of an Australian Antarctic expedition.

In 1980, the Nanok S transported the first woman to winter on an Australian Antarctic station, Medical Officer Dr Louise Holliday, to Davis station.

Later life

In 1987, the Nanok S was sold to a Chinese freighter and renamed the Yan Dang Shan.

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A seal in the foreground appears larger than the orange ship in the background.
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