Page 1 - Willem Barentsz

ON A WHALING TRIP WITH THE WILLEM BARENDSZ

The writer of this article, Gerard Boonstra, participated in 14 of the 18 expeditions to the Antarctic.
The first time (season 1950-1951) as a radio officer on a catcher, then eight voyages as a second radio
officer on the factory ship and the last five voyages as chief radio officer also on the factory ship.

Back in history

The need for fats in the Netherlands after the war was great. Before the war, the margarine industry
used about 30,000 tons of whale oil per year. In the devastated Netherlands of 1945, this was
impossible to come by. The whale oil was not there, and the foreign exchange was not there at all. At
the end of the war, people with foresight already made plans for a Dutch whaling expedition. The first
informal meeting took place at the office of the Amsterdam butcher Bille. After the war, the
Amsterdam business community was warmed up to this cause and in October 1945 a syndicate was
formed to establish the Nederlandse Maatschappij voor de Walvisvaart N.V. (The Dutch Whaling
Company Ltd.) On February 22nd, 1946, the Company was officially founded. The managing company
was Vinke & Co. A lot had happened in the meantime. Great haste was needed to get an expedition
to sea in the 1946-1947 season. During talks in Oslo it was discovered that the tanker "Pan Gothia"
was for sale in Gothenburg. An option was taken on the ship, which would expire on October 31,
1945. Although the finances were in place, at the last moment, due to money blockade and exchange
control, things threatened to go wrong. Due to the personal intervention of the Minister of Finance,
Prof. Lieftinck, the option could beexercised telegraphically 5 minutes before the expiry of time.

Willem Barendsz 1/PIPZ (ex-Pan Gothia) in full operation