Stay strong in memory

Tourism on the governor's ship

The tourist boat in Hornsund in July 1991. (Photo: Mats Forsberg)

Expeditions to Greenland and Svalbard

The best time

In the service of the Polar Institute and the Governor

Author: Gunnar Myklebust Johannes Bjarne Alme Webjørn Landmark

Created: 20.03.2023

(Excerpt from a conversation with Rolf Nakken (b. 1939) about life as a crew member on Polar Star with expeditions to Greenland and Svalbard, and the time the ship was in service for the Polar Institute and the Governor.)

– Is it the years in Svalbard that remain the strongest in your memory?

– Yes, that's where we were most of the time. Everything else was a bit of a mess. Nice change, but it was now Svalbard that was safe.

– There was a lot of activity in Svalbard at that time, and near the towns, these camps of theirs?

– Yes, no, that was when they were so optimistic and thought there was oil on every cape up there. There was at least a French company that we… we transported both people and equipment up there and were now there. They were now mostly living on board until they had established these camps of theirs. But then they started Polar Star very early to go for the Norwegian Polar Institute. About the same time, we had assignments for them.

– Summer trips for the Polar Institute.

– Yes, then we went around there and did everything possible. Soldering into the fjords, lighting beacons, putting out provisions and equipment for these huts around, a lot of such emergency huts. We operated partly in the eastern part of Svalbard, where there was both the least amount of fire and the least activity. Lots of steering.

– Had the shrimp trawlers started up there then?

– Yes, but they didn't stay there. There were small boats down in the Isfjord area and in Hornsund. But then bigger ones came, and then they were now up in Hinlopen and there. But it was a rough area to travel in, you know, never quite safe. Especially on the east side. Had to hang over that echo sounder the whole time when we went there. It was often with my heart in my throat.

Mate Rolf Nakken takes a power nap, as they call it on the other side of the sea. (Photo: Jostein Mo)

The Polar Institute's vessel runs aground and receives assistance from Polarstar in 1975. (Photo: Liv Skarbakk)

– She was terrible at swinging?

– Offa, yes. It's noticeable on the feet today.

– And then the docks had both provisions and crew changes at the outposts?

– Yes, when we went for the Governor. We went down to Tromsø twice every summer when the weather forecasting team rented the boat from the Governor. Then there was a crew change at Hopen and Bjørnøya on the summer trip, and the winter provisions out in the fall. That was a bit of fun. Life and bustle then, you know.

– But then the helicopters became too big for the ship?

Helicopter landing on the governor's ship.

– Yes, there were two engines and stuff, and then they couldn't make it work. Polar Star longer. It became too small, the helicopter deck. There was a limit to what we could have left there. It was probably a bit of a drag that made it end, yes.

– And the terrible rattling in the mess, because it was impossible to talk when the ship was moving, they said.

– Yes, it did, yes. But we were so used to it that we didn't react to it after a while.

– But then there was little to be done Polar Star in the 70s, and there were layoffs...

– No, there were several periods. Polar Star was quiet. Some periods long too. I didn't go on short trips on other boats, but I don't think the skipper and engineer were on leave. We were now assigned to different jobs here at the factory even during such periods. We now have some work in the shipping company, including being in the net repair shop here. And I didn't go to Canada with Minna also.

– There is a large towing eye at the back of the ship, designed for dockers to retrieve Vartdal...

– Yes, we had the whole deck torn up behind that. Heavy dimensions, you see. Don't just weld on the skin, that thing. You know how thick the curve is there, and it goes all the way forward so that it reaches the superstructure. Then it was poured over again. If you were to tear off that, you would tear off the whole stern.

– And you helped pick it up Vartdal huh?

Polarstar in dry dock. Note the towing eye under the ship's name. (Photo: Willy Nesset)

– Yes, we borrowed a tow hook from Ødegård. It was made so that we could pull it out onto the boat deck, yes, no, actually it was all the way up in the wheelhouse where we could release the hook and the tow. This was now tested with the ship's control, we lay in Hessa and crouched down in one place there and tested that it was strong enough, and that we could release it when it got tough. Well, it went well, that. We got the boat home again. But when we finally had to release it, it didn't work anyway! Hehehe. But by then we were in trouble. Damn steering, you know.

– Were there people on board? Vartdal when the dock was towed?

– No no. There couldn't be enough people there. But we had a tow signal on Polar Star. It wasn't exactly a pleasure cruise. This was in January, you know. Came up under the Faroe Islands on the way home, and the weather forecast was damn bad. We were thinking about going into the fjords for a while, but you know when you have five locks with chains out...

– You were there the whole time when you were appointed governor?

– Yes, and we were kept busy with the Governor for nine years. Seven months a year. Quite a few times we went on the morning of May 18th. And then it was home for Christmas. Once the Arctic Ocean it was a hurry up to get north. Your Arctic Ocean thing combined with the Governor's thing wasn't exactly the best. Dirty and bloody, there was a lot of maintenance. Washing down and polishing and painting.

– And then the Governor took over the skipper's lounge and cabin?

– He had the lounge, but I'm not entirely sure about the cabin. It wasn't that often that he slept there.

– Did Dokke get to know the people in Ny-Ålesund and Isfjord radio there?

– Yes, there were probably four men at Isfjord, and also at Hopen. At Bjørnøya there were more, ten men, I think. We were well known and well received everywhere. They rebuilt the entire station there at Hopen, we transported the materials, loaded them up almost as high as the wheelhouse. And then there were people who were there all summer building. Plumbers and electricians, that kind of thing.

– When the dock arrived in Longyearbyen with Polar Star, then everything was okay?

– Hehe, that was like a door opener.

– When you went with the Governor, were there any politicians or people from Oslo?

– I've said it many times, I'm sure there wasn't a single politician in the Storting who wasn't there at one time or another. All committees found assignments up to Svalbard. And when the Governor got tired of them, he sent them on board the Polar Star and on a fjord trip. A few hours in the evening or into Pyramiden and everyone gets their place. Then they had fun, you know. Then they got things done. Han Bondevik smoked a cigar and…

– He probably didn't drink much, but were there otherwise many silent politicians?

- No, there was often debauchery, but often a bit like that... But what they did up there, all of them, I don't know yet.

– Was there much in Barentsburg?

– Yes, the Governor had an office day there, so we went up to him then. Polar Star. Often once a week. We built a cabin a little outside Barentsburg that they were going to have for a meeting room. We were there on duty and built. It was extra pay, that kind of a little bit of black money. We actually got a lot of jobs like that, so we mostly lived on pocket money with those projects. Also on those trips with unloading and loading on Bjørnøya and Hopen.

– Going for the Danes in Greenland, that was awesome?

– Yes, it was nice, It was nice in Svalbard, but into the fjords of Greenland, it was very. Much more lush and green. Went all the way to the nearest station you can get to by boat, Danmarkshavn. And on polar bear marking in Myggbukta and these places there. Muskox went up in the slopes there, no, it was nice. That was when Skarbakk wanted to pull the pig.

– Oh yeah?

– Yes, your damn pig had come on board in Copenhagen. It was 3-4 in a box there. Then we were about to leave, a lot of people had gathered and were going to say goodbye to these guys who were going to be awake for maybe two years. There was waving and ceremony, and we backed out and whistled. No, burning it, said Johan, and went forward and pushed a pig and he pinched it like… iiiihhhiiiuu… hehehe, pig squeal. He Knut Johansen up in the wheelhouse, he roared, you know. That was when we got to Greenland, he Johan wanted to pull the pig. He wasn't in the wheelhouse and had such a listening watch, waiting for a helicopter or a plane. And there had been a quarter of a celebration down there, you know. Then we had a musket out on deck there, and were now going to take a peek. Then he stood there bent over and kept steering with your damn pig. What the hell are you doing, I said no. Æhhh, he replied Johan, he needs to get some supper, the bear too. Hehehe…

– It's noticeable on the feet today. (Rolf Nakken about the swaying on board the Polarstar)

Espen Brandal, the grandson of Rolf Nakken, in the skipper's chair in 2007. (Photo: Johan Veiseth)

Tourists on the ice near Svalbard. (Photo: Mats Forsberg)

Maintenance during the tourist season. Per Ivar Solheim applies fresh whitewash. (Photo: Mats Forsberg)