ALBATROS whale catcher 1921

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Built under yard No 9 as a whale-catcher by the Bokeröens Skibsbyggeri, Svelvik, near Drammen, Norway for Cia. Argentina de Pesca S.A., Argentina
Launched under the name ALBATROS.
Tonnage 210 gross, 112 net, dim. 107.4 x 21.5 x 12.9ft.
Powered by one 3cyl. triple expansion steam engine 600 ihp, manufactured by Bergens Mekaniske Vaerksted, Bergen.
December 1921 completed.


She carried all the advanced technology of a modern whaler of that time, and could be used in weather previously impracticable for whaling.

01 December 1927 ALBATROS sailed together with the whale factory vessel ERNESTO TORNQUIST and three other whale catchers from Sandefjord bound for the Antarctic waters.
She operated along the coast of Patagonia down to Tierra del Fuego and Cape Horn from 26 January till 4 June 1928. Altogether in this season 796 whales were shot. The ALBATROS shot 231 whales that season

The next season the expedition for the first time operated in the ice, and from February to March 1929 off the Patagonian coast. The ALBATROS shot 178 whales.
The season 1929/30 and 1930/31 the expedition carried out her work in the ice regions of the Antarctic waters. The ALBATROS shot 66 and 62 whales.

The ALBATROS was used for catching seal when not used for whaling.

From 1936 was the ALBATROS commanded by Hans T Johannessen till 1947 and was taken over by Ole Hauge, a famous skipper, venturing into all the bays, and his knowledge of South Georgia waters was unsurpassed. . In 1958 he was replaced by Arne Bogen.

Between 1951 and 1957 the ALBATROS was sometimes used by a British team of topographical surveys of South Georgia, when traveling around the island.

In February 1959 the government administrative officer at South George wrote a memorandum to the colonial secretary about the living standards on board of the seal catchers in South Georgian waters.

The living conditions aboard Pesca seal catchers are, I should hazard a guess, among the very worst to be found at sea anywhere in the world today. I have been out sealing in the DIAS for a week and the ALBATROS for six days, and also in the PETREL. The crew’s quarters are grossly overcrowded and they stink and reek of rotting seal blubber as it accrues in the holds from voyage to voyage and the smell seeps through into the mess. My bunk in the ALBATROS, which was one of the best in the ship, was soaking wet all the time that I was out, so I slept clothed and in an oilskin. Seawater and oily blood dripped almost continuously and occasionally poured through the deck head into the after mess where I was accommodated. Both these sealers have a penthouse on the after deck, which is unapproachable in rough weather, but in which is housed the ship’s lavatory seat. Flues arrangements are not provided. Not any wash basins in these ships. Conditions being what they are, the crew rarely change their clothes or wash. Some do not change their clothes for two months. Food and pay are good.

June 1960 the sealing rights were taken over by Albion Star, (South Georgia Ltd.) together with three sealing vessels under which the ALBATROS. The vessel was now registered at Port Stanley, Falkland Islands.

1963 Albion Star sub-lets its lease to the International Fishery Company (IFC) a Japanese consortium. A new license was granted by the Falkland Island Government to kill and process up to 6.000 bull seals.
Under command of Arne Bogen and 5 other Norwegian crewmembers, 12 Japanese and 1 government sealing inspector the ALBATROS sailed out, and was used the next seasons as a sealer.

In the mid-1960 the ALBATROS was laid up against the jetty at Grytviken.

During the winter of 1974 the ALBATROS having been stripped of all usably material, capsized alongside the pier under the weight of accumulated snow.

1979 Sold to Chr. Salvesen.

And till today she is still there in the same position as a wreck. On the stamp she is the vessel with the greatest list.

South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands 1993 15p sg?, scott166. 1993 63p sg?, scott168. 1999 17p sg284, scott? 2010 70p sg?, sg? (70p after she was hauled ashore in 2004)
South Geprgia 2013 £1 sg?, scott?

Source: Pesca, A History of the Pioneer Modern Whaling Company in the Antarctic by Ian B. Hart.