Kon-Tiki raft replica completes Pacific crossing with Nera satellite terminal

(August 1st, 2006) This weekend, four Norwegians, one Swede and one Peruvian reached their destination of Tahiti on a replica of explorer Thor Heyerdahl's famous Kon-Tiki raft after a 91-day voyage.

In 1947 Thor Heyerdahl made history when he sailed across the Pacific to prove that Polynesia could have been populated by people from South America. Now, a six-strong crew - including Thor Heyerdahl’s grandson Olav – has followed the same route on board The Tangaroa and spotted land after just over 70 days at sea. They had relatively few problems along the way, with minimal storms or damage to the raft.

The raft’s crew has won a hero’s welcome since arriving in Polynesia, where they have attended several welcome ceremonies sailing from island to island before reaching Tahiti.

The idea behind this expedition was to try out some of the design changes Thor Heyerdahl proposed after Kon-Tiki. The crew has also collected samples to monitor pollution of the seas, relay data as an educational project for school children and make a film of the voyage.

New technology on pre-historic raft

Like Kon-Tiki, The Tangaroa is an authentic replica of the original Polynesian settlers’ papyrus rafts, but now incorporates the latest maritime communications equipment – a Nera F77 satellite terminal using Inmarsat’s global Internet, e-mail, telephone and fax services.  In 1947, Heyerdahl used the then most modern radio communications equipment.

The satellite terminal enabled the crew to communicate with project headquarters and media throughout the voyage. The Nera F77’s Inmarsat services provide the expedition complete communications capabilities for telephony, telefax, Internet access, e-mail and file transfer. Importantly, the Nera F77 terminal also provides a global distress alarm function.

TV and radio live interviews with the crew, as well as video footage, were beamed live from the middle of the ocean via the satellite terminal. Also, the Tangaroa website was updated daily with new reports and pictures from the voyage. A TV documentary will be produced of the whole expedition and be broadcasted on major television channels in several countries later in the year.

“This has been a fantastic adventure”, says expedition leader Torgeir S. Higraff. “Thanks to the Nera equipment, we have been able to communicate with family, friends and all the international media channels that have followed our project. Also, with this equipment we have made all the contacts with the association in charge of the tremendous welcome ceremony in three different Polynesian islands.”

“We never experienced any problems with the equipment, even in bad weather in the middle of the Pacific”, concludes Higraff.

VP Sales & Marketing at Nera SatCom, Mr. Morten Tønseth says: “It has been really exciting to support this fantastic adventure and to put our equipment to the test under extraordinary conditions, on an extraordinary vessel. We congratulate the Tangoroa team on their successful expedition.”

For more information on Tangaroa: http://pub.tv2.no/nettavisen/friluftsliv/tangaroa/article290367.ece

More Information about Nera SatCom:
Per Busk Christiansen, Marketing Manager, Tel. +47 67 24 37 81.