Yacht Seawolf arrives at Pendennis in Falmouth, Cornwall for refit

The 1957 classic motor yacht was towed from Holland by the tug Dutch Pearl and brought into the Pendennis non-tidal wet basin prior to her haul out later this month.

Pendennis confirmed that her extensive programme of works will include new luxury guest and crew interiors, exterior styling modifications, extensive engineering and electrical work and a full repaint of the hull and superstructure.

The owners commented: “We enjoyed cruising the Cornish coastline and visiting Pendennis in 2020 and are pleased to be returning to such a beautiful location and professional shipyard. We are looking forward to the project and working with the team from Pendennis."

Toby Allies, joint managing director at Pendennis, said: “The whole team at Pendennis is really pleased to welcome MY Seawolf and her crew to Falmouth this week.

"Pendennis has developed a strong reputation over the years for successfully carrying out large scale rebuild projects for our owners. The scope and scale of the project is really exciting for us and will utilise many of our in-house trade specialists.

"We’re looking forward to the project and working with the owners and their team on MY Seawolf and delivering her back to them for her next adventure.”

Pendennis is one of the world's leading custom superyacht build and refit shipyards and has become one of Cornwall's most important employers, with over 450 highly skilled tradespeople based at the 19-acre prime waterfront location in Falmouth.

The yard's modern facilities include three bespoke-built construction halls (2x90m and 1x45m) alongside a 150m dry-dock, with the capacity for both new build and refit contracts for 30-100m superyachts. The 800 tonne travel hoist enables efficient launching into the 7,564m² non-tidal wet basin, which is purpose-built to accommodate superyachts of up to 100m.

Seawolf began life as a salvage tug. Launched as the Clyde for Dutch salvage conglomerate Smit, she entered service in January 1957 where she became part of the company’s fleet of seagoing tugs which had been built to similar designs and named after famous rivers.

Oktavius on County wharf Picture: David Barnicoat Collection

The tug at the time was one of the most powerful in the world. Her first visit to Falmouth came in August 1958, when she towed the fire ravaged Swedish tanker Oktavius here from the Azores.

On passage from Rotterdam to Trinidad on August 9 1958, the Oktavius caught fire 900 miles off the Azores islands after a fuel pipe fractured. The Swedish crew fought the fire for five days, earning warm words of praise from the master Captain Granquist ,who said his crew were heroes who worked tirelessly night and day to extinguish the fire.

“The fire spread to the aft living accommodation, then the storerooms. Some of the lads put on oxygen masks to get us some food. They managed to get us some tins of special Swedish fish we like very much.

"The drinks were easy to prepare, we put some coffee in a bucket and stood it on a really hot part of the deck and it was soon boiling,” said Captain Granquist.

The Panamanian reefer vessel Panama Express took 20 crew off the tanker. The fire was eventually extinguished but subsequent damage in the engine room disabled machinery. The tanker was towed to the Azores by the Dutch tug Oostzee and later to Falmouth by the Clyde arriving her on August 28.

The crew who remained onboard were landed here and given clean clothes by the Shipwrecked Mariners Society.

United Towing Company’s salvage tug Englishman took the Oktavius in tow the following month for Gothenburg where she was repaired and put back into service later that year.

Towards the end of her career the Clyde was renamed Smit Salvor and was sold in 1977 to Matsas the Greek salvage company who renamed her Matsas Salvor.

After having served there for almost 13 years, a German towage enthusiast purchased her and changed her name into Seawolf. In 1998 a Dutch yard owner at Mallorca noticed the handsome appearance of the ship and made a plan to transform her into a yacht. It took five years to complete his plan, however the result was stunning.

The Clyde’s sister tug the Elbe is moored at the International Tug Museum at Maasluis, Netherlands.