A few weeks back I posted a story about Norwegian sailor Jarle Andhoy who had illegally sailed into the Antarctic for the second year in a row and ran into trouble again as well. At the time of that story, Andhoy's latest ship, a yacht named Nilaya, was believed to be running low on food and fuel and attempting to limp towards an Argentinian port with a broken mast. Today we get word that Andhoy and his crew were taken into custody by Chilean officials who came across his boat in open waters.Andhoy set out from New Zealand in January without proper permits and insurance to operate in the Southern Ocean. That didn't exactly endear him to Kiwi officials, especially since last year he pulled the same move and three people died. The self-described "Viking" went there illegally to ride ATV's to the South Pole, but while he and another man were on the Antarctic continent, a freak storm sunk his ship, the Berserk, killing the three people who were still on board. Jarl claimed that he was returning to the region to search for signs of the boat this year.
In February, the crew decided to give up that search but didn't want to sail back to New Zealand where they could face possible arrest. Instead they tried to make their way to Argentina, where they felt they could safely go ashore. They hadn't been heard from in several weeks and their last messages indicated they were experiencing issues with the boat and were seeking assistance at an Argentine base in Antractica. A base that was believed to have little or no staff at that time.
There are conflicting reports as to why Andhoy and his crew were detained. NZ officials say that they didn't ask Chile to arrest the men and it doesn't appear that Norway reached out to them either. Chilean authorities report that the skipper gave false names for both himself and the ship when it was approached, which led to them being stopped and taken to the naval base at Puerto Williams.
When they set out in January they did so with such haste that they didn't even allow a mechanic, who was on board making repairs at the time, to leave the vessel. As a result, that man found himself on a 2+ month long excursion in some of the more dangerous seas on Earth.
I'm happy to hear that the entire crew is safe and sound, but quite frankly I hope Andhoy is never issued a sailing permit again. He has shown a reckless disregard for the rules and regulations for sailing in the Southern Ocean and he is very lucky that no one else, him included, lost their lives this time out either.
Thanks to Outside Online for the tip.
