Self-styled ‘Wild Viking’ Jarle Andhøy, who sailed his yacht Berserk without permission to Antarctica last year on an expedition that led to the deaths of three crew, is in trouble again after being detained in Chile.

The Norwegian had sailed with another crew to the Ross Sea in Antartica in Nilaya, a 54ft pilothouse yacht, to search for any trace of Beserk or her missing crew and was arrested by the Chilean Navy in Puerto Williams. According to an official statement, Andhøy had once again sailed to Antarctica without the necessary authorisation, which includes detailed preparation and emergency planning.

New Zealand Customs undertook a search for Nilaya after the yacht left New Zealand for the Ross Sea, stating that the crew had left illegally without clearing out. Andhøy is said to have found no sign of Berserk and following the search the crew sailed north to Chile.

According to Norwegian newspaper reports, when they arrived the crew presented the yacht as being Russian and Norwegian, and when detained were flying a pirate flag.

Andhøy, 35, a former naval diver and instructor for the Norwegian Rescue Company took a crew of four from Christchurch, New Zealand to the Ross Sea in Antarctica in 2011 on his 47ft steel yacht Berserk, pictured above.

Here he and 18-year-old Samuel Massie disembarked with all terrain vehicles for a journey of almost 1,500 miles to the South Pole.

Those left on the yacht, Norwegians Robert Skaane, 34 and Tom Gisle Bellika, 36, and South African Leonard Banks, 32, were on their way back and only 17 miles north of the Scott Base when they met a storm and set off their EPIRB on 22 February. 



The New Zealand Navy ship HMNZS Wellington was able to make their last reported position around ten hours after the distress signal, but found no trace of Berserk.

Conditions at the time were reported to be of winds gusting to 75 knots, seas of 6-8m and temperatures of -20°C. 



It is thought that the yacht might have hit a growler and been holed, been crushed or encrusted with inches of ice forming in the rigging, something that can capsize a yacht in sub-zero winds of as little as 25 knots, according to experts. 



A very comprehensive search was made by the US wildlife conservation ship Sea Shepherd and HMNZS Wellington. The search by sea and by helicopter helicopter covered some 1,550 nautical miles. No sign has ever been found of the yacht.



The Ross Sea, where Andhøy and his companion were dropped off, is a part of the continent that hardly any sailors visit. This vast region is usually iced in until late February and refreezes in March. 



Unlike the Antarctic Peninsula, which sees between 30 and 40 visiting yachts each season, the Ross Sea offers very little shelter or protection and few places to get securely tied in.



Andhøy had not obtained the necessary permit to visit Antarctica and so did not comply with the due diligence and search and rescue plan entailed. He is reported to have loaded his yacht which, according to his website, displaces 25 tonnes with 5 tonnes of extra gear, including all terrain vehicles lashed on deck.



He had received advice from polar explorer and former solo racer Don McIntyre who told him to get out of the Ross Sea “no later than 20 February as conditions can get very bad after that,” McIntyre reports. “He arrived late and unbelievably was apparently trying to get to the South Pole when the rest of Antarctica, government and private, was shutting down for the season.”



High latitudes sailor and charterer Skip Novak explains why getting permission and following the rules is so important. “Antarctica is no longer a wilderness, it’s a managed territory with guidelines that have been in place for decades,” he says.

“You have to apply to one of the Antarctic Treaty countries for a permit and you have to meet stringent environmental concerns, a search and rescue plan and you have to have insurance with a very high level of liability. If you don’t you can be prosecuted.”



He warns: “Yachts are seen by the Antarctic Treaty as loose cannons. They lurk around and go everywhere in self-mode. Cruise ships especially are looking out for yachts making mistakes,” Novak says.

Antarctic Treaty countries, which issue permits to their national vessels, are determined to crack down hard on yachts that flout regulations. The Norwegian Polar Institute, from which Andhøy should have obtained a permit, threatened to prosecute him.

Andhøy is building up quite a record of flouting regulations. In 2002, he sailed an Albin Vega into protected areas of the Arctic and was charged on his return to Svalbard of sailing without insurance and of failing to submit a route plan, as well as of making unauthorised landings and provoking a polar bear.