On a trial hunt for Crabeater seals in the Weddell Sea with m/s "Polarhav" in 1964
By skipper Sigmund Bøe

We had made our annual hunting trip to the Newfoundland field with very good results. We had a helicopter on this trip, and it was a great help during the hunt. Our shipowners, Rieber and Karlsen, had been working for some time on plans for a trial trip to Antarctica to investigate whether it was possible to conduct seal hunting there on a profitable basis. Now they took this up again in earnest, but they met with little willingness to cooperate from the various authorities. There was certainly some big politics involved, as Norway had been involved in setting up treaties and agreements concerning the exploitation of natural resources in Antarctica, and there was a general ban on all commercial activity in Antarctica itself.

Interdisciplinary collaboration solved the mystery of the wreck in Iceland. It was the Arctic ship "Brattind" from Tromsø, found by "Videy".

– The fact that the wreck of one of the 1952 ships has now been found is, in short, a sensation, says Webjørn Landmark, managing director of Ishavsmuseet Aarvak.

50 years since the "Lance II" disaster.

Miraculously, two men survive. Eleven others perish in the icy, raging sea.

Written by Johannes Bjarne Alme

At 05:12 on the morning of Monday, February 11, 1974, skipper Oddvar Simonsen on the "Lance II" calls Vardø Radio and says that they have run aground on the way from Vadsø to Båtsfjord, near Makkaur. He asks for nearby vessels to come to the rescue.