Gann interiors, 6 July 2014

Some more Gann for you, in case the previous entry wasn't enough. And if this entry still isn't enough for you, you can check out Simona Mitmann's entry on our Gann visit in English at her blog, or Sami Koski's account of the entire excursion in Finnish from his blog. But before you dash off to those, I'd like to treat you with a photo tour of the Gann.

Gann

IMO 8019344
Name history: Narvik, Gann
Built 1982, Trondhjems Mekaniske Verksted Trondheim, Norway
Tonnage 6 257 GT
Length 108,55 m
Width 16,50 m
Draught 4,74 m
380 passengers (in Norwegian internal traffic)
240 passengers (in international cruise service)
306 berths
2 Bergen diesels, combined 6 400 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Service speed 15 knots
Maximum speed 17,5 knots

In case you haven't read it already, the previous entry includes a relatively detailed account on the history of the Gann. The photographs below, meanwhile, were taken onboard the Gann while she was in Tallinn on 6 July 2014. Before we proceed I'd like to take this chance to thank tha Gann's chief purser Åsmund Johansen for showing us around the ship.

G Deck is, as you might have guessed, the Gann's topmost deck and includes the bridge as well as the observation lounge Leden added in the 1989 refit.

The bridge. I'm afraid I never caught the name of the handsome officer here.

The Leden panorama lounge still retains a rather 80s look. The rather elderly passenger profile of the ship is complimented here by the lovery Simona Mitmann.

Another view of Leden. I think the glass roof is a particularly nice touch.

The aft staircase, leading down to F Deck, decorated with a photo of the ship are she appeared in Hurtigruten service as the Narvik.

F Deck is essentially entirely crew spaces - the only areas open to passengers are the staircases, lobbies and the open sun deck aft.

Signage. Notice the "you are here" plan still display's the ship's original name and the logo of her previous owners Ofotens og Vesteraalens Dambskibsselskap.

This room, just below the bridge, allows students to track and monitor the ship's route in real time while sailing as a training ship. I for one would be interested in giving this a go even as a passenger.

Unfortunately we couldn't visit any of the passenger cabins, but Åsmund kindly opened the telegraphist's cabin for us to see.

A view forward from the aft sun deck area.

The sun deck it self, seen from the aft of the ship. Notice that the port funnel is a dummy, as testified by the lack of uptakes.

E Deck has the ship's other lounge, Nordkapp, forward, while there are cabins aft.

The Nordkapp lounge, with Simona, Åsmund and Jani Nousiainen of Matkustajalaivat.com.

The furniture here is not the original, but rather the furniture from the night club added aft on Deck D in the 1989 refit. When the Narvik became the Gann, the nightclub was converted into classrooms and the original furniture moved here.

Deck D is the main public room deck, featuring both of the ship's restaurants, a library, classrooms and, in cruise service, a shop, as well as a number of cabins.

An original ODS detail on the door to the Finnmarken restaurant.

The Finnmarken restaurant, forward on D Deck, has been retained largely in original appearance. Interestingly, the space is usually only used when the ship sails in cruise service.

Another Finnmarken view. Notice, if you look closely, that the chairs are all attached to the floor by a chain, keeping them in place in rough seas.

The forward staircase as seen from D Deck, with a photo of the King and Queen of Norway on display.

Midships on D Deck is the ship's second restaurant, the more buffet-style Sandnes.

Another view of the Sandnes restaurant.

This very different space seems to also be a part of the Sandnes restaurant.

Aft of the Sandnes restaurant is the rather delightful library, which originally served as a smoking room but has now been converted into more civilised use.

The Narvik night club, right aft on D Deck, has been converted into two classrooms on the Gann. This here is the starboard one.

One of the conference/classrooms was used as a shop at least during this particular voyage. It is maintained by our guide Åsmund's 16-year-old son, which explains the unusual layout. Alas, the shop only accepts Norwegian kroner, which stopped me from hoarding tons of fantastic Gann merchandise. (Apologies to Sami Koski for paparazzi-ing him).

C Deck has the entrance lobby, reception and cabins. For some reason, it seems I didn't take a single (passable) photo from the entire deck.

B Deck has cabins forward and the former car deck area aft. As the Gann does not need a car deck as such, it has been converted into various workshops and study areas, as well as a gym for the crew.

The car gate on the port side still exists, and presumably the ship could be converted back into a ro-ro ferry without much difficulty.

Workshop areas.

The gym. As far as I could tell, there is no gym onboard for passengers - and since the crew gymn is towards the aft of the ship, it's not entirely simple to make it passenger accessible. A chance, maybe, for an improvement in the ship's layout.

A Deck is the bottom-most (passenger accessible) deck on the ship, with cabins forward and engine spaces aft.

The engine control room was a rather claustrophobic place. I, again, forgot completely to ask the names of these fine gentlemen. In any case I hope they do not mind having their photos published.

This part of the engine control room looks like the set of a 1970s scifi movie. The effect is further enhanced by the lens distortion.

I suck at the mechanical side of shipping, so here is machinery...

...more machinery (which, if I remember correctly, was somehow related to the ship's air conditioning?)...

...and still more machinery.

Emerging back into daylight from the bowels of the Gann, I leave you with one more photo from outside the ship:

The port (dummy) funnel. Notice the outlines of the funnel colours of the ship's previous owners: ODS/OVDS and Hurtigruten ASA.