Kon-Tiki replica completes Pacific crossing: uses Nera satellite terminal

Details: Alec Barton; Category: Satellite Networks; 09 August 2006; 11258 views

Just a few days ago four Norwegians, one Swede and one Peruvian reached their destination of Tahiti on Tangaroa, a replica of explorer Thor Heyerdahl's famous Kon-Tiki raft...

Just a few days ago four Norwegians, one Swede and one Peruvian reached their destination of Tahiti on Tangaroa, a replica of explorer Thor Heyerdahl's famous Kon-Tiki raft.

They took 91 days for their voyage across the Pacific from Peru . They even included Thor Heyerdahl's grandson Olav! The crew followed the same route on board the Tangaroa and spotted land after just over 70 days at sea.

It had relatively few problems along the way, with minimal storms or damage to the raft. Since arriving in Polynesia , the raft's crew has won a hero's welcome where it has attended several welcome ceremonies sailing from island to island before reaching Tahiti .

Just to round off the similarities with the original Kon-Tiki, the crew even relied on maritime communication systems. This time a Nera F77 satellite terminal using Inmarsat's global Internet, e-mail, telephone and fax services fulfilled the crew's communication needs. Importantly, too, the Nera F77 terminal also provided a global distress alarm function.

Using the terminal, the crew could communicate with project headquarters and media throughout the voyage, because 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. What is more, 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 will be broadcast on major television channels in several countries later this year.

The crew of the Kon-Tiki "This has been a fantastic adventure", says expedition leader Torgeir S Higraff, who appreciates the role of satellite communications: "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...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."

Morten Tønseth, VP Sales & Marketing at Nera SatCom, congratulated the Tangoroa team on its successful expedition: "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."

The idea behind the expedition was to try out some of the design changes Thor Heyerdahl proposed after Kon-Tiki. The Tangaroa is an authentic replica of the original Polynesian settlers' papyrus rafts, but now incorporates updates such as the latest maritime communications equipment. The crew 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.

* 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.

** Nera is a global supplier of fixed wireless and satellite communication equipment and systems. Nera SatCom, a wholly owned subsidiary of Nera, designs, develops, manufactures and markets satellite terminals and gateways for mobile satellite communications, being the chief supplier of end user equipment for the Inmarsat system.

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