The History of the Sandfjord Whaling Co.

Sandefjords Hvalfangerselskab (Sandefjord Whaling Company) was established 30 August 1906. It was the fourth company to start whaling in the Antarctic regions, making it one of the pioneers of the industry. 

This book tells the story of the company’s operations at the shore whaling station Stromness in South Georgia from 1906 to 1931; when it stopped whaling from there. The development of whaling at Stromness is examined in the context of individual initiatives and entrepreneurship, as well as economic, political, technical, and resource-related factors, both locally, nationally, and internationally.

This is an abridged version of Odd Galteland’s book published in Norwegian in 2009.  Some aspects of the history are left out to focus on the Norwegian-British relations and policy issues that always played a vital role in how the industry developed at South Georgia. The book also reveals the fierce competition as well as close cooperation between the whaling companies operating along the South Georgia coast.

Contents

Author’s Foreword
Editor’s Foreword
Introduction

Chapter 1
The First Attempts in the Antarctic

Chapter 2
The Establishment of Sandefjords Hvalfangerselskab

Chapter 3
Fridtjof Nansen’s First and Only Journey

Chapter 4
A New Factory Ship

Chapter 5
A Growing Company (1908–1912)

Chapter 6
Building a Shore Station in Stromness (1912/13)

Chapter 7
War and Peace (1913–20)

Chapter 8
Merger and Consolidation: The Whaling Company Vestfold

Chapter 9
Good Whaling Seasons (1922–26)

Chapter 10
Good Whaling and Profits (1926–29)

Chapter 11
Swan Song (1929–31)

Chapter 12
Repair and Maintenance Facility (1931–61)

Chapter 13
Epilog: The Whaling Company that became a Shipping Company (1931–76)

APPENDICES
Appendix I: Wage conditions in Stromness 1912–31 in retrospect
Shore station wages
Wages on board the whale catchers

Appendix II: A/S Sandefjords Hvalfangerselskab / A/S Vestfold, 1906–31

Appendix III: The fleet of A/S Sandefjords Hvalfangerselskab / A/S Vestfold, 1906–31

REFERENCES

INDEX

Author: Odd Galteland (b. 1948 in Sande­fjord, Norway) studied at the University of Oslo where he majored in sociology in 1977. He has worked as a lecturer for his entire career.

He has published several books on the history of Norwegian whaling companies:

Hvalfangst på Syd-Georgia. Landstasjonen Strømnes 1906–1931 (2009)

A/S Kerguelen 1908–1921. The Optimism, the Dreams – and the Dull Working Day (2013)

Godthul Syd-Georgia 1908–1931 (2017)

Husvik Syd-Georgia 1907–1960 (2021)

Whaling at Godthul South Georgia. The Early History of the Thor Dahl Company 1908–1931 (2022)

Editor this edition: Bjørn L. Basberg

Published in the following format:

Paper: ISBN 978-82-8390-181-8, 316 pp, paperback, format: 17x24 cm, weight 0,7 kg,, year of publication 2025, language: English