Posted on 08/31/2024 8:26:46 AM PDT by BenLurkin
A historic journey ended in tragedy this week when a Viking replica ship capsized off the coast of Norway, killing an American archaeologist who was part of its international crew.
The six-person team had been piloting the open wooden ship, named Naddodd, on a roughly 1,000-mile trip from the Faroe Islands to Trondheim, Norway.
"This expedition, honoring the Viking navigator Naddodd, aims to preserve Viking culture and navigational skills for future generations," Sail2North expeditions, which organized the voyage, said in an Instagram post in May.
The team — made up of four Swiss, one Faroese and one American — departed on Saturday from Suðuroy, the southernmost of the 18 Faroe Islands, for what was expected to be a several-day journey.
But on Tuesday evening, met with stronger-than-expected winds and high waves, it capsized off the Norwegian coastal town of Stad.
The Norwegian Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) told CNN that the boat sent out a distress signal at around 5:45 p.m. local time, but when rescuers arrived, crew members signaled that they were safe.
They issued another distress call around 8 p.m. local time, at which point local civilian boats got to the scene and saw the ship had capsized. Five members of the crew managed to board an inflatable life raft and were airlifted to safety within an hour, the JRCC said, but one person was trapped beneath the boat.
Emergency responders battled tough conditions, including 40-knot winds and 16-foot waves, according to a video posted to social media by Norway’s Sea Rescue Society.
The following morning, once conditions improved, rescuers found a body beneath the capsized boat.
On Friday, Sail2North identified the victim as 29-year-old Karla Dana, whom it had previously described as "the youngest member of our crew and embodies both the curiosity of a field researcher and the boldness of an adventurer."
Dana, an archaeologist and field researcher, had worked in a number of countries, from Costa Rica to Germany to Morocco to Taiwan, according to her LinkedIn page. She was a member of the prestigious Explorers Club, and was pursuing a master's degree in archaeology at the University of the Highlands and Islands in Scotland.
In a joint statement shared with Sail2North, Dana's sister and her fiancé said she "tackled every adventure with a smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye."
"She always made life look easy," Alejandra Dana and Grant McDaniel wrote. "She created a light that illuminated everyone around her everywhere she went. If you ever had the opportunity to know her, consider yourself one of the luckiest people on this planet."
Dana had shared on LinkedIn earlier this year that she was looking forward to participating in the Viking expedition.
"Thrilled to be a part of this crew, fearlessly embarking on this Nordic voyage on a Viking ship replica across the North Sea, pushing through physical and mental limits to sail into history," Dana wrote.
Dana also authored several posts for the expedition's blog, which is now password-protected.
"It's hard to keep excitement from turning into fear when you see those waves casually tossing around huge modern boats like toys," she wrote in a post published Wednesday, according to the BBC. "But there's a wild beauty in the North Sea, a reminder of nature's raw power, and I feel incredibly lucky to be part of this adventure."
Authorities believe a strong wave was likely responsible for the capsizing, which they are viewing as a "tragic accident" rather than a criminal matter, according to the Associated Press.
Sail2North said on Friday that its crew was made up of "highly experienced explorers who undertook extensive training" and "took every precaution to ensure their safety."
The other crew members include the 56-year-old captain and expedition leader, a 54-year-old artist and seaman who holds a Guinness World Record for rowing across two oceans in the same year, a 37-year-old extreme sports aficionado, a 41-year-old photographer and a 50-year-old engineer.
"Despite their diligent efforts and adherence to these measures, the outcome was unforeseen and deeply upsetting," it said, adding it is committed to supporting Dana's family and honoring her legacy.
A spokesperson with a public relations firm representing the organization told NPR over email that the rest of the crew is traveling home to be with their families and "continues to receive support from a dedicated care team." It anticipates providing further updates next week.
Same thing happened to lot of Vikings and Romans
“the boat sent out a distress signal at around 5:45 p.m.”
The Vikings had radios?
There are lots of different types of criminal matters. In this case criminal negligence (doing a bad job making the boat) would be pretty obvious. Of course we also should remember that every country with a coast has smuggling, and sometimes regular people stumble upon smugglers and bad things happen. So actually VERY reasonable for authorities to check some things.
🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 Prayers for her and her family. Some of the comments here are inappropriate. I guess if the ship was caught broadside by a 16’ wave, not much could be done.
Those long ships were designed mainly for coastal raiding, slipping over underwater harbor obstacles and sailing up river. They had very low drafts. They probably used more seaworthy ships like knarrs for sailing to Iceland, Greenland and North America.
Britain's long-time archaeology show "Time Team" which now airs on YouTube and Patreon were granted special permission to dig at the site of the burial last year, and I believe will be returning there at some point. The Sutton Hoo dig videos are both on YouTube and Patreon. During the episodes, they showed clips of the ship being built. It's going to take some time, as they are using the traditional techniques that were used to build the original ship. I believe they plan to sail it when it is completely finished. When I was in London in 2006, I made sure I got to see the treasures collected from the site in 1939.
The movie "The Dig" is a 2021 British drama film starring actor Ralph Fiennes who plays Basil Brown, the self-taught Archaeologist who uncovered the ship and grave.
They took "every" precaution except going to sea in a canoe when modern technology and navigation techniques are available.
Modern people are just not built like the ancients. Training a middle age archaeologist is not the same as the old Vikings who lived the lifestyle.
TBH, I'm not sure what the point of this exercise is. Part of me thinks the ancients would say modern man is crazy for not leveraging modern tools, materials, safety gear, and equipment.
Still, very sad. She was somebody's daughter, friend, and colleague.
The question is whether or not the handling of the ship was an instance of criminal negligence. Presumably experienced and knowledgeable researchers understand the risks. The Titanic submarine disaster, on the other hand, may well have involved criminal negligence, but like the Baikonur Cosmodrome disaster, the guilty perished with their victims.
I suspect the poster meant building a pyramid the same as the ancient Egyptians did - sans modern technology.
Then moving rocks becomes not so easy.
Proving eternally that brains does not equate to common sense.
This kid is the embodiment of my tag line.
We could do that too. It’s not magic. It’s not even a mystery, there’s actually diagrams in the pyramids. And we could probably do it easier than they did, just because we’re taller and stronger.
Sad ending to an adventure-especially for someone so young-the real Vikings were good at observing the sea and weather without modern means-we are not and probably should require safety classes and better precautions to avoid injury and death before setting off to recreate a bit of history. Some of the comments here are really inappropriate-do these people have a stand-up routine for funerals, too?
That was an awfully small boat to be attempting to cross the North Sea in - especially in rough conditions. Doubtless, plenty of Vikings were lost at sea when caught in rough seas like that.
I don’t know. My implication was that the old guys jettisoned her as extra weight during the storm. Being stuck to the boat bottom is mighty weird, being too new to have barnacle encrustation dense enough to trap an adult body.
So until all avenues have been traveled I wouldn’t dismiss murder.
The Norse who sailed in the original vessels had decades of experience, and even some of them ended up at the bottom of the North Sea. Experimental Archaeology is great. But it does have its risks.
Actually, a team tried to build a tiny replica of an Egyptian pyramid a few years back for a documentary. If I remember right, it was intended to be about 30 feet tall, versus the 455 foot height of the great pyramid. They initially attempted it using only the skills and techniques they believe the ancient Egyptians had available and they failed miserably. So they brought in heavy equipment, including a crane, and were finally able to complete it, but it looked like a joke in comparison to any part of the real thing. And their tiny version was just a pile of carved stones, without any of the intricate internal passages and rooms of the real article.
So dumb people tried it. That doesn’t mean people who actually know what they’re doing can’t. Really, it’s piled stones. If you think we can’t pile stones, you’re just plain silly. There’s no magic in the pyramids, just hard work and planning.
Indeed. Not too make a joke of it but on the water there is always what lies beneath...
Ideally, cremation on a offerings-laden longboat.
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