Antarctica Part 6: The Berserk

Antarctica Part 6: The Berserk-

On a Zodiac cruise around Paradise Island our diver Sam (short for Samantha) was explaining a bit about the politics of Antarctica. Ownership of the pie graph like slices of land were originally disputed over between 7 countries until 1959 when an international treaty was reached. Since ’59 about 50 countries that signed the treaty call Antarctica home and nobody “owns” it. If you are a citizen of one of those countries you are bound by those same laws as if you were in your homeland. If you happen to be from a country that’s NOT a member of the treaty it’s sort of a grey area what laws you are obliged to obey. Either way it’s sort of government by committee and there isn’t, for example a coast guard, or any other overseeing authority that enforces any international laws. An interesting fact, but seemingly meaningless since nobody in the history of Antarctica has been found guilty of purse snatching or credit card fraud, so what’s it matter really?

Sam continues; The treaty ends in 2041 and countries have already begun lobbying to assume portions once the treaty runs out. Sam has worked a few seasons as base physician for the British Geological Survey. The British Geological survey is an example of a government laying ground work for future claims to the land. Argentina, Norway, the U.S. and several other countries do things similar in the form of building airstrips, maintaining weather stations, conducting various scientific research etc etc so that when 2041 comes that can say “Hey this belongs to us, look what we’ve been doing here for so long… We’re just gonna go ahead and keep this now.” And then drill away.

As she is explaining all this very fascinating political posturing we turn a corner in Paradise Island and see three ships anchored in at a small cove. She’s surprised to see the boats and we motor over to take a look. As we approach I see a black flag hanging off the bow of one of the ships and jokingly say “hey look a pirate flag”. Sam laughs it off and says nobody actually flies a pirate flag in real life and that’s really only a Hollywood thing. When we get closer her tone and body language makes a noticeable change. Still at a good distance we can see that the black flag does in fact bear the good ol Jolly Roger and in red spray painted letters across the starboard side you can read the boats name. Sam surprisingly exclaims “Oh my gosh… it’s The Beserk!” As I look over at her she diverts her eyes and shies away. “There is a story about that boat” She says. “As we leave the cove I’ll explain more.” Everyone in our Zodiac can tell something is up, but as we circle around we snap some pictures as if business as usual. Seeing this, the captain of The Bezerk steps out onto the deck with his camera and snaps some of us as well. The captains name is Jarle Andhøy, and captain Andhøy, as it turns out, is an international fugitive.

Born in Norway, Andhøy has undertaken numerous controversial polar voyages and prefers to go by the nickname “The Viking”. A few books have been written about his exploits and the Berserk even became the subject of 2 Norwegian television series “Berserk mot Nordpolen” (Berserk to North Pole) and “Berserk til Valhall” (Berserk to Valhalla). In 2002, after returning from a voyage where Andhøy claims to have set a world record for traveling the furthest north in a sailing vessel, the governor of Svalbard charged him with sailing without insurance and failing to submit a route plan. Those charges were later followed by a trio of environmental crimes including unauthorized landings and provoking a polar bear. Andhøy appealed his charges and the fines were reduced in a settlement. In 2007 he undertook a new expedition to the Northwest Passage along the Canadian coast where he was arrested by Canadian authorities for smuggling a wanted fugitive (one of his crew members) across international borders. After fleeing on his ship and refusing to appear in court he was henceforth banned from entering Canada. In 2011, during an expedition to the South Pole, The Berserk activated it’s emergency transponder with 3 inexperienced crew members on board. At the time Andhøy and another crew member were on land illegally driving ATV’s towards the pole. An extensive search was coordinated by New Zealand’s Rescue Co-ordination Centre and involved the governments of Norway, New Zealand and the United States. A damaged lifeboat from the (original) Berserk and several packages of drinking water were found, but no sign of the boat itself. The search was concluded with all 3 crew members presumed dead. In 2014 a trial against Andhøy started in the Norwegian court system and after fleeing those proceedings a warrant had been issued for his arrest.

After spotting the Berserk the captain of our ship was supposed to alert the Norwegian authorities and we can only assume that it happened. Either way, as mentioned, there is no governing authority in the area and it’s extremely unlikely that Norway will be sending their coast guard down to Paradise Island in the hopes that when they arrive several weeks later Andhøy will still be hanging around. What will probably happen is nothing. Andhøy will likely sail around continuing to evade arrest for the foreseeable future as his ego and infamy grows in the international sailing community. And we, the small group on our Zodiac boat, got an encounter with a real life pirate… or fake pirate and real “Viking”… or as it were, actually it’s maybe just some guy that calls himself “The Viking”.

Bob