Norwegian adventurer found by New Zealand - but silent

Jan 26, 2012, 23:04 GMT

Wellington - A Norwegian adventurer making an unauthorised trip to the Antarctic in a yacht has been sighted by a plane searching for him, New Zealand's Customs Service reported on Friday.

But Jarle Andhoey, who is sailing a 22-ton steel yacht called Nilaya, kept out of sight and ignored numerous attempts to hail him as the plane circled the boat on Thursday evening, a Customs spokesman said.

The boat was reportedly travelling in international waters outside New Zealand's 24 nautical mile (44.4 kilometres) zone. The Customs spokesman said a New Zealand fishing boat had alerted them to the yacht's position.

Customs officials announced Wednesday that they were seeking Andhoey, an illegal immigrant to New Zealand, who is believed to have left Auckland in the yacht on Monday.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the Norwegian government had notified New Zealand and other members of the Antarctic Treaty that Andhoey, 34, who took part in a disastrous polar expedition that killed three men last year, may be planning another illegal voyage to the Southern Ocean.

Oslo said he did not have the required authorisation to go to Antarctica.

A Norwegian newspaper, Vestfold Blad, is reported to have published Thursday an interview with Andhoy in which he confirmed he and fellow countryman Samuel Massie, 18, were on their way to Antarctica.

He said he needed to find answers about what happened last February, when he and Massie left the 14-metre yacht Berserk II near New Zealand's Scott Base to make a trip to the South Pole on four-wheel-drive quad bikes.

The yacht's emergency beacon was activated soon after they were dropped off and sounded for several hours before it stopped transmitting. It was believed the yacht and its three remaining crew had sunk in one of the worst Antarctic storms in 20 years.

Once they knew the yacht had disappeared, Andhoey and Massie, reportedly suffering frostbite and exhaustion, went to the United States base at McMurdo Sound, to catch a flight back to Christchurch.

Antarctic New Zealand chief executive Lou Sanson said at the time that they had broken all the safety principles of operating in Antarctica.

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