Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s Throwback Thursday again! Today for my throwback, I have selected a very special image taken more than 13 years ago! Truly unbelievable! I can’t even imagine this was taken more than 13 years ago, it feels like last year but then, it’s more than a decade.
The image is dated January 30th 2005, and was taken while I was serving as a Chief Officer Safety and Security on board the luxurious cruise-ship "Crystal Symphony" of Crystal Cruises. This cruise was probably the most memorable cruise I have ever done, and the crowning piece of my career on cruise ships. I was with the absolutely finest of colleagues and crew, under the command of Captain Økland.
Weather in Antarctica can change really fast. When this image was taken, I clearly remember that we had to hurry leaving Admiralty Bay behind, because our ice-pilot predicted imminent strong winds. As safety is more important that anything else, and with a sail-area like the one "Crystal Symphony” has, this decision was not up for discussion. As we departed, the winds suddenly, out of nowhere, guested up to 30 meters per second. That was a lesson in the unforgiving nature of Antarctica.
As far as my knowledge, the image was taken in Admiralty Bay, Antarctica. The ship there with us is the former Norwegian coastal steamer “Harald Jarl”, at that time sailing as the “Andrea” of Elegant Cruises. Some time later, the company went belly-up and the ship was taken and laid up in a long arrest.
After a long time sitting idle, coming pretty close to eager scrappers several times, she was purchased by a Russian, and sent to undergo an extensive and long rejuvenation-process. At completion of this long upgrade, she was once again ready for the next step of her life: as the “Serenissima” under charter to Noble Caledonia. At her re-launch, I was extremely privileged to be invited to join the ship for her maiden voyage from Split Croatia to Venice, Italy.
As the “Harald Jarl”, this ship was the pride of the Trondheim-based Nordenfjeldske Shipping, and a extremely popular ship on the coast of Norway under the Hurtigruten flag.
