MV Norsel (1945)

Norsel during her service in support of the French Antarctic expeditions in the 1955–56 season
History
Name:	Lyngdalsfjord (1945–49) Norsel (1949–92)
Owner:	Kriegsmarine (1945) Nordfisk A/S (1949–79) Steinar Jakobsen (1979–89) Statens Fiskarbank (1989–90) Mathisen Fiskebåtrederi A/S (1990–91) Arktisk Marin A/S (1991–92)
Port of registry:	Tromsø, Norway
Builder:	Kaldnes Mekaniske Verksted in Tønsberg, Norway
Yard number:	122
Laid down:	1944
Launched:	10 April 1945
Completed:	October 1949
Identification:	Code letters: LDQJ
Fate:	Wrecked south-west of Brønnøysund on 19 December 1992, and delivered for scrapping in February the following year
General characteristics
Type:	Icebreaker/Sealer/shell trawler/purse seiner
Tonnage:	592 gross register tons (GRT)
Length:	50.3 metres (165 ft) overall
Beam:	9 metres (30 ft)
Installed power:	1,080 horsepower (1949–70) 1,200 horsepower (1970–79) 3,000 horsepower (1979–92)
Propulsion:	1 MAN 6-cylinder diesel engine (1949–70) 1 MaK diesel engine (1970–79) 1 MaK diesel engine (1979–92)

MV Norsel was a Norwegian sealing ship home ported in Tromsø. Launched during the final weeks of the Second World War as Lyngdalsfjord and only completed in late 1949, the ship sailed in both Arctic and Antarctic waters for more than 53 years until shipwrecking off the coast of Norway in 1992.

The 592 GRT vessel was built by Kaldnes Mekaniske Verksted in Tønsberg, Norway. She had yard number 122, and was 50.3 metres (165 ft) long overall, with a beam of 9 metres (30 ft). Her length between perpendiculars was 45 metres (148 ft). Originally intended to be powered by a steam engine, the vessel, when completed, instead had a single 1,080 horsepower MAN 6-cylinder diesel engine. In addition to the main engine, Norsel had a 35-horsepower auxiliary engine.

The ship was rebuilt at Tromsø Shipyard in 1966, having her superstructure and internal fittings replaced. Four years later, in 1970, the ship's engine was replaced with a 1,200 horsepower engine from Maschinenbau Kiel (MaK). In 1979, the ship's engine was replaced yet again, this time with a 3,000 horsepower MaK, making Norsel Norway's most powerful icebreaker. During the 1970s, Norsel was rebuilt as a shell trawler and purse seiner, while continuing in use as a sealer. Further rebuilding of the ship took place in the 1980s at Kaarbø Shipyard in Harstad, where Norsel was lengthened and equipped with a factory for the processing of shells.

The vessel was launched as Lyngdalsfjord on 10 April 1945.Lyngdalsfjord was one of five icebreaking tugs ordered for the Kriegsmarine by the German occupiers of Norway in 1944. None of the five vessels were completed before the end of the Second World War.

The incomplete Lyngdalsfjord was bought in 1948 by the Tromsø-based polar hunting company Nordfisk A/S, and towed to Flensburg in Germany for completion as a sealing and expedition ship. The vessel was completed as Norsel in October 1949. She remained in the ownership of Nordfisk for the next 30 years. Although sold first in 1979 to Steinar Jakobsen, then in 1989 to Statens Fiskarbank, in 1990 to Mathisen Fiskebåtrederi A/S and in 1991 to Arktisk Marin A/S, she retained the name Norsel and remained home ported in Tromsø.