WombOfFuturity
Member
Jarle Andhøy's clandestine 2011 South Pole expedition on his ship Berserk is an interesting story. The short version is their boat, with three crew members on board, went missing under somewhat mysterious conditions while Andhøy and a partner were driving on ATVs towards the pole. Subsequently Andhøy was charged and fined by Norwegian authorities for not carrying the required insurance and not obtaining permits after being reported by the Norwegian Polar Institute.
Paul Watson was the captain of another ship in the area at the time and was part of the search and rescue efforts.
What Really Happened to the ‘Berserk’?
In September 2017, Outside published a feature about the ‘Berserk,’ a ship that went missing in 2011 off the coast of Antarctica with three men aboard. The expedition leader, Jarle Andhoy, disagreed with the story we published, which contained some factual errors, and with our portrayal of the...
www.outsideonline.com
ANDHOY: We had a meeting with representatives from New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and they were very upset because they claimed we had sailed illegally to Antarctica, and had violated environmental rules by anchoring in Horseshoe Bay. And that’s where my questions began. Sammy and I were in a situation where three of our friends were assumed to be dead, and in New Zealand we were met with the accusation that the Berserk had sailed to Antarctica illegally? When we got back to Norway, the Norwegian Polar Institute reported alleged violations of the Norwegian environmental regulations to the state prosecutor, based on information given to them by New Zealand authorities. The alleged violations were illegal sailing and anchorage in Antarctica. The criminal charges and the focus on safety lines tied to land were in direct contradiction with international maritime law and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas, specifically with regard to the fundamental rights of the high seas and the right to safe passage in the seas surrounding Antarctica.
In the wake of the tragedy, I didn’t counter these matters in court, but after my search expedition back to Antarctica I did. There was a long legal process in which the Norwegian Polar Institute demanded that I be punished for not obtaining a permit and insurance to go to Antarctica. We lost in district court, and made an appeal, but ultimately failed to reverse the decision. The positive from these cases is that the Polar Institute was forced to release some of the documentation and communications about the expeditions. The cases also revealed that many of the demands for sailing “legally” in Antarctic waters—including requirements for insurance—are really a bureaucratic form of banning access.
[...]
ANDHOY: By law and by definition, sailing in the Southern Ocean is not limited—that’s why these waters are legally called the high seas. And on my search expedition to Antarctica, I knew that Norway would never give me a permit to go, because officials required insurance that does not exist. So it’s like putting you in checkmate. You have to apply for a notice or a permit, but in order to get that permit you need insurance, but you can’t get it.
Paul Watson was the captain of another ship in the area at the time and was part of the search and rescue efforts.
The Berserk Incident
On February 22, 2011, a Norwegian yacht sank off the coast of Antarctica during a storm. Three of its crew were lost. A decade after the incident was overshadowed by the Christchurch earthquake, new revelations have emerged about why the yacht sank and New Zealand's involvement.
interactives.stuff.co.nz
Paul Watson, captain of the Steve Irwin, goes even further. In an interview with Stuff, he accused the New Zealand Navy not just of complicity, but conspiracy.
“I think that the Wellington ordered these people out of the harbour and then they tried to cover up the fact that they had any responsibility in the fact that the vessel went down, he says.
“There's no other explanation as to why they would have left a safe harbour, while they were waiting for two other crew to return from their excursion to the South Pole.
Stuff sought a transcript of the communication between the Wellington and the Berserk under the Official Information Act but the request was declined.New Zealand was very hostile to any vessels landing in the vicinity of Ross Island without prior permission. - PAUL WATSON