Norwegians to refloat Amundsen ship off Cambridge Bay

Cambridge Bay, Nunavut (CP) — The tough oaken vessel that took famed explorer Roald Amundsen on his second Arctic voyage is about to rise again. After four years of negotiation and preparation, a Norwegian team expects to refloat the Maud this week, 85 years after she was scuttled in shallow waters off the coast of Nunavut. “We’re quite confident,” said Jan Wanggaard, who’s heading the crew hoping to return the last ship of a Norwegian national hero to its homeland. The Maud was built in 1917 for Amundsen, the first man to reach the South Pole. He intended to use the specially strengthened Maud to drift across the North Pole while frozen into moving sea ice. She was sold to the Hudson’s Bay Co. in 1925. Three years later, the ship sank while moored in shallow water just off Cambridge Bay. Parts of the hull still protrude above the waves.