Roald Amundsen - Through the Maze: The Northwest Passage

Transportation

The first ship Amundsen owned was Gjöa, the 47-ton fishing boat that he used to travel through the Northwest Passage. For his next voyage, he took Fram. Fram was specially built so that ice would not crush it, but push it upwards instead. For his voyage through the Northeast Passage, Amundsen had his own ship specially made, and called it Maud.

To fly over the North Pole, Amundsen used a dirigible, or airship, which is a cigar-shaped aircraft filled with a gas that is lighter than air. The name of the dirigible was Norge.

Amundsen also used dog sleds on his explorations. He learned how to use them from the Inuit when he travelled through the Northwest Passage. Sleds were made with wood and were usually about 3 metres long and 30 centimetres wide.

Amundsen's ship, the Gjöa Copright/Source

The Gjöa, a Floating Moving Van!
Every inch of the hold was used. Packing cases had been made to fit so that no space was wasted. Once the hold was full, even more supplies had to be piled in boxes over almost the entire deck. The ship looked like it was a mover's truck.

	The Fram was built by Colin Archer, to withstand the polar ice. "Fram" is a Norwegian word meaning "forward", "out of", "through". The Fram remained true to its name: always moving forward, through to the South Pole and out of the polar ice.