project

ROALD AMUNDSEN AND MAUD

The polarship MAUD was built for Roald Amundsen by Christian Jensen and launched on June 7th 1917 in Vollen, outside Oslo. Amundsen christened Maud with a block of ice that he chattered against the bow and proclaimed; “You are made for the ice”

DIRECTION NORTH POLE

In the summer of 1918 Roald Amundsen departed from Norway with his new proud polarship MAUD. His ambition was to sail into the high north and deliberately get stuck in the ice and then function as a floating scientific research station as well as trying to drift across the North Pole. Maud spent several years in the arctic ice without reaching the north pole and thus the expedition never got the deserved public attention but the years spent in ice gave invaluable scientific research material from the arctic. Maud was sold by creditors in 1925 to Hudson Bay Company and ended its days as a floating warehouse and a wireless radio station. The ship sunk in its mooring in 1931 and has been laying in the same spot ever since. There was one attempt in the 1990´s to organize an operation to rescue the wreck of Maud but it never came into realization.

MAUD RETURNS HOME

Maud Returns Home is a final initiative to bring the remains of Roald Amundsens polarship MAUD from the North West Passage, back to Vollen and Norway where she was built nearly 100 years ago. Maud sunk in shallow water 80 years ago. She still rests on the seabed today in the same place, close to Cambridge Bay in the North West Passage, North Canada, and she is now in a state of slow deterioration.
This initiative will be a last opportunity to bring the remains of this once proud polarship back home and give it a respectable place to rest in the years to come. A future Maud Museum in Vollen will present the remains of the ship, which will become a national treasure, well taken care of. The ship and its remarkable story will be available to the world public in a ultra modern museum that will communicate the whole story of Maud and its men, not only inside the physical walls of the museum but also through modern communication technology. A pioneer way of presenting our history inspired by the forward and creative spirit that characterized our polar heroes like Roald Amundsen.

MAUD RETURNS HOME – PROJECT INTRODUCTION

Maud Returns Home is the working title for a complete plan to salvage the sunken ship wreck of Roald Amundsens polar ship MAUD, and bring her back from the North West Passage to Vollen, Norway, where she was built nearly 100 years ago. Final step will be to conserve and prepare the shipwreck of Maud to become the centerpiece in a new Maud Museum in Vollen where the boat was originally built. The Project will be divided into three different phases :

1. Project Planning Process
2. Rescue Operation
3. Maud Museum Development

PROJECT REALIZATION PHILOSOPHY

One of the main possible pitfalls in the operational part of this project will be to be over-administrated by a to large project organization. The project team need to be dynamic and optimized when it comes to skills and ability to work easy together in an isolated and harsh climate environment. We will therefore put great effort into minimizing the whole project group for above reason and also for cost reduction reasons. At the same time we are not willing to risk to reduce the chance of succeeding in reaching our project aims by pushing the factors above beyond a sensible limit.

PHASE 1 – PROJECT PLANNING PROCESS

First phase of Maud Returns home will be to develop a complete plan for the whole realization of the project from start to finish. This webpage will be created as a working tool in this process both as a forum for communication and as a source of information both for our project partners and also later for the general public who wish to follow the project progress from day-to-day on a web-blog.(incl web-tv)



Within this planning process we can list up the following key points of attention:

Rescue Vessel
One major task will be to define and find the most suitable Rescue Operation Vessel for the project and a complete plan for how this vessel need to be equipped for the operation. Also we need to decide whether it will be more cost-effective to buy a ship for the project and sell it after the operation , or to rent a ship for the whole period. The vessel will need to be a tug-boat classed for operating in the ice with a long distance range capability.
This vessel will also function as an operational central and living quarter for the crew during the operation.
The rescue vessel will also be prepared as an independent workshop station that shall be capable of handling all tasks related to various phases of the operation and will bring all necessary materials to handle this challenge.
tugboat for sale -jan 2011


Project Operation Crew
A major challenge will be to define and recruit a Rescue Operation Crew that will be most suitable for this project. The team should ideally have previous experience in working together under similar circumstances and also have different particular skills that will suit all needs for the operation.


Rising the Wreck
Another major challenge will be to develop a detailed plan, and also several alternative plans, for how to rise the Wreck of Maud from today position at the seabed up to a floating position.
Next step will be to prepare and secure the wreck optimally for the long journey back home to Norway, a distance of more than 2000 nautical miles.
This is the main challenge for this project, but the degree of simplicity of this operation will totally depend on a good plan and thoroughly thought through preparations in every detail.
It will also be important that the team has an ability to work smoothly together,with high level of positivity and with creative minds together in a small and challenging environment.


The transport The towing will need to be planned in detail with regards to a detailed chosen route to fulfill requirements relative to bunker and other practical factors as well as weather forecast predictions.
The towing distance from Cambridge Bay in Canada to Vollen in Norway is estimated to approx. 3700 Nautical Miles (7000km), which at an average speed of five knots will be a journey of 30 days duration.





Arrival Vollen, Norway
Develop av plan for how to receive the wreck at arrival in Norway including a plan for conservation.


Costs and Budget plan
Attention towards cost control will be a major concern for this project. Our main principle in this respect will be to only hire in skillful people to be part of the team rather than making subcontracts for parts of the project realization process. Secondly we strongly believe in making this project organized and administrated by a small strong unit to avoid long lines of communication and simple and fast decision making


More information on these matters can be found on our NEWS page.