In the spring, the folks behind the forthcoming Transglobal Car Expedition were test driving their tricked-out Ford F-150 in the Canadian Arctic near the Tasmania Islands. Unfortunately, one of the trucks, modified by Arctic Trucks North America, "was lost through the surface in an area of rapidly shifting ice on a heavy current." Yep, the vehicle cracked through the ice and sank. Fortunately driver Torfi Birki Johannsson and his passenger made it out in time. Here's Johannsson:
I suspected quickly that it is deep water under and we will be losing the car, my thinking went "what do we need most before we lose it". I evaluated if I should go back into the car get a few cloths there, my phone, my computers etc. but decided to jump on the roof rack and get the extra heavy clothing all four of us had stored on this car.
I managed to free two straps and the four bags, my thinking was we would need this especially if the other car would also go down and jumped off to bring these bags to safer ice.
This week, the Transglobal Car Expedition went back to retrieve the truck. During the complex operation, Arctic divers attached airbags to float the truck to the surface and move it toward a nearby island. Then a helicopter airlifted it to Gjoa Haven where it'll eventually be placed on a sealift vessel for the trip to Montreal.
"This is an international team of the best in the world in polar wheeled travel, augmented with experienced cold-water recovery experts and a team of Indigenous underwater camera operators," said expedition member Andrew Comrie-Picard. "Our respect for the land motivates our desire to do the right thing to remediate the area, and also bring the world's eyes to one of the most pristine and beautiful places on the planet."
More on the recovery operation here.
