Polarstar fully loaded with dynamite

The pure torpedo

The red flag on the mast prompted oncoming boats to steer well clear of the Polarstar with its explosive cargo. (Photo by Ernst Hovlid)

A strange shipping mission

Dynamite and liquor

Must have good seamanship

Author: Webjørn Landmark Johannes Bjarne Alme Gunnar Myklebust

Created: 20.03.2023

Of all the strange cargo missions Polarstar had after the fishing seasons in the 50s and 60s, one in 1957 stood out. This was at a time when “Kalle” Karlsen in Halifax was getting the ship many missions. He was popular with the crew. One day he came on board and said that he had a trip that was so special that those who wanted to join him would get a share of the profits, in practice double the salary. Jon Jakobsen says that there was a long silence when the crew learned what they would be doing in that case:

– We were going to load the ship full of dynamite!

But Kalle was a man to be trusted, and no one went ashore:

– Yes, they'll get 100% overpayment, he said. And he thought so too, we got paid well in addition to the rent we had. No, Kalle was a really nice guy to deal with.

The cargo was to be loaded in Sorel, far up the St. Lawrence River. The Polarstar was not allowed to dock, but had to lie in the middle of the river to take the cargo on board. The explosives were brought to them by barge.

– We had a full load of dynamite in the hold and a fuse in the bow. It was pure torpedo, then! says Ernst Hovlid, who was also on the trip.

The crew received qualified instruction

The St. Lawrence River is heavily trafficked. Boats go to and from Ottawa and Montreal. And even though it is large and wide, it takes good seamanship to take a vessel filled with dynamite out to sea. A pilot and two men with white gloves came on board and were real worldly people, says Jon Jakobsen, but they were shocked when they heard what the cargo was.

– One of the guys almost trembled. You know, Polarstar and the Arctic ships now sway from the slightest thing, if you were so sinful as to swing a little. And the current in addition, of course. So he saw one in the white gloves, who had been trembling from before, he shouted and screamed at every slightest maneuver. So when we finally got out into the mouth there, he took off his hat and wiped the sweat.

The crew received qualified instruction about the cargo, which was going to Venezuela. A representative from the manufacturer explained in detail the dangers, what the cargo could and could not tolerate, that you could easily drive over a stick or two of dynamite without it going off. The important thing was, of course, that the detonators and fuses were kept away from the explosives themselves – they were stowed in the cabins forward in the bow. Now dynamite was no stranger to the men on board. They were prisoners and had all used it in the ice. They felt they had control over this.

And they had some fun watching how other vessels reacted when they saw the two large, red flags hoisted on the Polarstar . South along the American coast, shipping traffic increased, and the crew chuckled every time they saw oncoming boats swinging well out and past. The great hammerhead sharks that came to meet them, however, cared less about the flags in question. Having them all the way up to the ship's side was extraordinary, the Norwegians thought.

Mate Ernst Hovlid on his way to Venezuela. (Photo from Ernst Hovlid)

The red flag on the mast prompted oncoming boats to steer well clear of the Polarstar with its explosive cargo. (Photo by Ernst Hovlid)

Customs, unloading and near-miss

In Venezuela, they lay waiting outside the port city of Maracaibo. When the customs officers came on board, there was no doubt about how things were arranged there:

– They came, three men. With empty bags, of course. They didn't let us ashore again until their bags were almost full. With cigarettes and miscellaneous. Henry, "Tie", cursed and swore after they went ashore, but there wasn't much we could do about that either.

They couldn't get to the dock in Maracaibo either. They were out in the bay unloading barges. Some went to Maracaibo, some to other places. In total, they delivered explosives to five ports in Venezuela. In a couple of places, they only saw a pier and a straight road inland, no other life or habitation. And it was fitting that we arrived there full of dynamite, says Jon Jakobsen. In 1957, Venezuela was still a military dictatorship and in the throes of civil war. On the Polarstar , they could hear gunfire in the distance, and they saw no reason to go ashore:

– We were actually happy when the last box of dynamite went over the line. In one of these small towns where we were unloading, the unloading crew came on board to see us, and in one of the heaves one of the cartons of dynamite slid off and down into the room again. He saw the unloading crew standing on the line directing, he jumped up and held his ears and shouted and screamed "My God, my God". The rest of us started laughing. I don't think it helped to hide on the bow, we probably had quite a few of us up quite high, all on board, if it was going to hit.

Jon Jakobsen and Johan Holstad in light clothing in Venezuela. (Photo from Ernst Hovlid)

New load

The last delivery point was an outpost on the east side. Then, says Jon Jakobsen, Johan Holstad wanted to go ashore:

– There was a bad road up there, probably something the military had made, so I told Johan that it probably wasn't safe for the snake here. We're going back! Johan quickly said.

In every way easy, the Polarstar went directly to Trinidad and Barbados to load up on rum. There the crew was invited into the distillery itself. And they were sure that after that they would never drink that kind of liquor again: What a terrible smell it must have had in there!

Mate Kjell Marø with a proper uniform hat in the Caribbean. (Photo by Ernst Hovlid)

Unsteady legs and broken bottles

They had an interesting experience during the loading as well. Ernst Hovlid:

- There were such cardboard boxes with 12 rum bottles in each, and there was a lot of breakage, you can understand! The man who was in the winch often made a flurry with the hoist, so that it went away in the hatch frames so that the rum trickled down onto the deck. Then the guards came with everything that was made of cups and vessels and collected the drops.

We were fooled, says Jon Jakobsen. He noticed that there were many unstable bones coming up from the hold at lunchtime. So he went down, and there he found many broken bottles behind the grates of the freezer elements. When new people came on board after the lunch break, he went down into the hold and was there with them:

– I must say they were upset. Later, when we emptied the ship, we found broken glass everywhere. They must have been pretty drunk, those first six who went ashore, yes.

– I think I was home with my wife for four hours. (Ernst Hovlid on the transition from seal hunting in Newfoundland to a year of freezing)