Mechanic joins rogue Antarctic trip by accident

A New Zealand man has had the misfortune to find himself part of a renegade Norwegian crew heading for Antarctica.

For the unnamed mechanic, it was simply a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

He was repairing a yacht when it left Auckland in a hurry to avoid immigration officials.

The Nilaya yacht is captained by a self-proclaimed viking, Norwegian Jarle Andhoy, 34.

Alongside 19-year-old Samuel Massie and two other crew, Andhoy rushed from Auckland without realising the mechanic was still on board.

Andhoy and his crew are travelling to Ross Sea in the Antarctic in an effort to find the wreckage of the Berserk, a yacht which he captained last year before it sank, killing three people.

On that occasion, Massie and Andhoy were airlifted to safety. New Zealand Norwegian authorities had banned the men from trying the expedition again, hence the latest hasty exit to sea.

The expedition is trying to find the wreckage of the Berserk, which sank in a storm in McMurdo Sound in February last year.

The yacht was a supply vessel for an attempt by Andhoy and Massie to reach the South Pole on quad bikes.

Andhoy told Norwegian media he was seeking answers to what happened to the yacht.

The New Zealander will for now have to remain on board for the voyage, despite not having a passport or papers with him, he said.

“We are five men who travel south now. Four who have been in the ice before, and a blind passenger, who is a local New Zealander,” Andhoy said by radio.

The original trip was supposed to be the adventure of a lifetime, emulating Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, the first man to reach the South Pole.

However, it ended with the deaths of Robert Skannes, Tom Bellika and Leonard Banks.

They were in the Berserk, waiting for Andhoy and a friend to cross the ice shelf, when a storm hit and sank the yacht.

Now Andhoy is on a mission to find the remains of the men and the yacht.

“It’s absolutely diabolical,” says Charlene Banks, sister of Banks, one of the victims. “He’s going back there again in the same conditions as last time.”

She said it is all about publicity.

“He’s definitely not well-prepared at all. He leaves everything to the last minute. He hasn’t got any of authorities’ approval. He believes he’s above the law.”

Andhoy does not have the right permits for the trip, and New Zealand authorities are now searching for the 16 metre-long steel yacht, which they might have renamed Berserk 4.