Norwegian sailor vows to return safely from Antarctica

Feb 23, 2012, 2:41 GMT

Wellington - Norwegian adventurer Jarle Andhoey said he would bring his yacht crew back safely this time from an unauthorized voyage to Antarctica, according to news reports Thursday.

Andhoey told Radio New Zealand that his yacht the Nilaya was currently near Beaufort Island in Antarctica's Ross Sea after paying tribute to the three men who died when his previous yacht Berserk II disappeared in a storm a year ago.

A search of the area had so far failed to find any wreckage and he would continue his voyage in good ice conditions before heading out of the Ross Sea, he said.

Andhoey, 34, took his 22-ton steel yacht this month south of the 60th parallel. Passing the parallel without permission could result in a fine as Norwegian authorities said Andhoey did not have the required authorization to go to Antarctica.

The Beserk II disappeared a year ago after Andhoey and his countryman Samuel Massie left it 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 is believed the yacht and its three remaining crew sunk in one of the worst Antarctic storms in 20 years.

Andhoey and Massie, reportedly suffering frostbite and exhaustion, went to the US base at McMurdo Sound to catch a flight to New Zealand.

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