10Whaling Season 1946/1947


 Airmail letter, postmarked Oslo 31.10.1945, sent to Bjarne Steinsholdt, working on Whale factory ship “Norhval”. The tanker Kaia Knudsen, was in Liverpool ready to depart for Aruba/Curacao.  Postal rate: letter Europa 40 øre, Airmail 25 øre. Correct postage.


Tanker Kaia Knudsen, 1930 Built as KAIA KNUDSEN at Blohm & Voss, Hamburg, owner: Samuel Bakke (Knut Knutsen OAS), Haugesund.

Whal factoty ship “Norhval” at the fjord of Larvik.

“Norhval” whaling operations in the Antarctic 1945 – 1962. Owner Hvalfangerselskap Polaris A/S and Hvalfangerselskap Globis A/S Larvik.

The Pelagic baleen whaling season in 1946/47 started 8. December. Before that the expedition was allowed to catch sperm whales (sperm whales are, tooth whales) which at the time were considered plentiful and not in danger of extinction.

The tanker Kaia Knudsen, , lay at Pollexfen & Co in Liverpool, ready to depart for Aruba/Curacao to pick up fuel oil for the Norhval expedition. The tanker would reach the whaling ground about mid-January 1947. At that time Norhval would have a shortage of fuel oil. When reaching Norhval, Kaia Knudsen would pump the fuel oil over to Norhval and in exchange receive the whale oil that Norhval had produced until then. Around 1. February Kaia Knudsen would return to Europe brim-full of whale- and sperm oil.

The pencil mark across the letter, I cannot explain. The postal authorities have not commented anything, I am afraid the pencil mark and the 10 will remain a mystery.


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