Replica Viking ship sinks: archaeologist on board dies

Twenty-nine-year-old archaeologist Karla Dana died during the “Legendary Viking Voyage” expedition from the Faroe Islands to Norway aboard a replica Viking ship that capsized due to bad weather. It was supposed to be a voyage back in time when the Vikings tried to sail across the fearsome North Sea.
But unfortunately, the “Legendary Viking Voyage” expedition ended in tragedy.
Losing her life was Karla Dana, a 29-year-old archaeologist of Mexican descent but living in Florida (United States) who drowned after falling overboard.
The goal of the mission was to revive Viking culture in maritime history by completing 550 miles of navigation from the Faroe Islands to Norway.
A 9-meter replica of the ancient boats of the northern peoples had been built to make the crossing.
The boat, christened “Naddoddr” in honor of the 9th-century Norse explorer considered the discoverer of Iceland, had no deck and no engine.
Propulsion relied solely on sails and oars.

An initial call for help, then the decision to continue

The “Naddoddr” had set sail on Aug. 24 from Tvøroyri in the direction of Måløy with six crew on board.
After the first three days of trouble-free sailing, the Viking replica encountered bad weather with winds over 40 knots, messy seas and 5-meter waves on August 27.
At about 5:45 p.m. local time, the crew of the “Naddoddr” launched the first distress signal.
Having intercepted the SOS, a rescue team arrived on the scene about 50 minutes later.
By that time, however, the worst seemed to be over, and to the rescuers the crew aboard the Viking ship said they felt safe, prompting them to turn back

Archaeologist trapped under boat

Around 8 p.m., however, the skipper of the “Naddoddr” Andy Fitze issued another distress call, just before the boat capsized due to difficult sea conditions.
Upon receiving the Distress call, the Norwegian Central Rescue Center (HRS) coordinated rescue operations, sending both helicopters and ships to the scene of the accident.
Five crew members were rescued after taking refuge on the life raft.
While Karla Dana was trapped under the boat and died.
Rescuers searched for her throughout the night, but found her body only at dawn the next day when weather conditions had improved.
“It’s hard,” Karla Dana had written in a post on the same day as the accident, “to stop the excitement from turning to fear when you see those waves casually tossing huge modern boats into the air like toys, but there is a wild beauty in the North Sea, a reminder of the brute force of nature, and I feel incredibly lucky to be part of this adventure.”