The Sea Flower

"Sjøblomsten" was the first Sunnmøre ship that was specially built for seal hunting. Previously, ice-reinforced fishing boats had been used. The first seal hunting trip was in 1905.

In 1906 the Ålesund "Søblomsten" with a crew of 10, returned to Ålesund with a catch of 1100 young seals, 300 adults, 1 walrus, 2 dead and 1 live polar bear. This was the best catch that came to Ålesund that year.

Was together with "Vesterisen" the first ship to catch in the Strait in 1908

No one had heard anything from the Denmark expedition after they left two years ago. The "Sea Flower", "Mermaid" and "Vesterisen" were commissioned to try and work together to deliver mail to the Denmark expedition in 1908. But where were they? Until July 2, they had not seen any trace of them. But that day, skipper Peder Trandal and some of the crew of the "Vesterisen" were ashore on Shannon Island. Here, at a depot for an American expedition, they found a message about where the Danes were likely to be found, and also a message that was to be sent to Denmark, so that the outside world would know what had happened so far.

First, the "Vesterisen" tried to go north alone to deliver the mail, but had to give up. Then they tried again in company with the "Havfruen" and the "Sjøblomsten". They were all the way north to the tip of Cape Bismarck at 77 degrees north. The camp of the Denmark expedition was located in such a way that it was difficult to detect from the sea, but from the barrel of the "Sjøblomsten" they discovered on July 10th something that looked like a lookout barrel. The other ships were alerted, and a small boat from each ship then rowed ashore and was able to ascertain that the "Danmark" was in a bay further inland. The skippers of the three ships, Peder Trandal, Paul Lillenes and Laurits Brandal, then took the mail with them and walked to the camp on foot. When they arrived, they learned that the expedition leader and two other members had died. They had not managed to return to headquarters after an excursion. The Danes had searched for and found the body of Jørgen Brønlund, but not of Mylius-Erichsen and Niels Peter Høeg Hagen. The rest of the participants were in fair shape, and the ice had begun to break up around "Danmark". Thus, the Danes would most likely have gotten out on their own somewhat later. "Havfruen" was the first to return home to tell about the Denmark expedition, to great interest from both at home and abroad. "Vesterisen" arrived somewhat later with mail from the expedition, and at the end of August "Danmark" also returned to Copenhagen. "Sjøblomsten" brought home 1 live musk ox, which was sold to the zoo in Copenhagen.

The Danish state provided incentives to both the crew and the skippers of the three ships.

The Danes sent out a new expedition in 1909 with the ship "Alabama" to find out what had happened to Mylius-Erichsen and his diaries. Two of the participants went on a longer search in the spring of 1910. While they were away, the ship "Alabama" sank in the sea. The crew then built a cabin from the wreckage. Hoping for help, the Danes left a message at a depot about the situation of the people on the "Alabama". The "7th June" expedition, which wintered 10 miles further south in 1909-1910, found this message in May 1910. The day after the "7th June" had left its winter quarters, they met the ship "Laura". They agreed to try to rescue the Danes. "Laura" was unable to get through the ice, but skipper Vebjørn Landmark of the "7th June" reached the 5 Danes. The two Danes who had been out on a search operation had, after much effort, returned to the Alabama quarter in November 1910 and found the camp empty. Then the comrades had started from there with "7th of June". They were here for the whole of 1911 without anyone finding them. They then moved to Bass Rock a little further south. The Danes bid here until they found the "Sjøblomsten" on 17 July 1912.

On December 31, 1918, on its way in from the herring fields on the Trøndelag coast, the "Sjøblomsten" ran aground at Melsteinen lighthouse. The "Hugin" came to pick up the people, but after a while the "Sjøblomsten" sank. In May 1919, the ship was raised and taken to Kristiansund. Here the ship was repaired at Kristiansunds Baadbyggeri.

In 1927, the "Sjøblomsten" left Kristiansund on February 17, and had entered the ice on March 1. The ship was almost fully loaded when the ice began to form on March 28. They were not far from Kapp Kanin when they were turned up on the ice, and the ship began to take in water astern. All pumps were started, but the water rose. The ice pressed harder, and the water rose quickly. There was nothing to do but pack provisions and abandon the ship. The distress signal was raised, and the "Driftig" which was lying nearby sent people over to help. But there was no way to save the "Sjøblomsten". An hour after the turning began, the ship was half full of water. "Driftig" took the people on board, and by daybreak on April 30, the ship had sunk with a cargo of 2925 seals.