Select Page
Svalbard 2023

Expedition Cruise to Svalbard: Part 6 – Ny-Ålesund: a mining village turned research station

by | 19 July 2023

On our first day on board, we made an excursion to the northernmost settlement in the world, Ny-Ålesund.

June 26
During our first night aboard the MS Fram, we sailed from Longyearbyen to Ny-Ålesund and woke up in the beautiful Kongsjord.

The Kongsfjord (Kingsfjord) is 26 km long and between 6 and 14 km wide. On the southern shore of Kongsfjord lies Ny-Ålesund, originally a mining settlement founded in 1917. It is located at 78.56 degrees north and may call itself the world’s northernmost settlement. Ny-Ålesund is located 114 km north of Longyearbyen and can only be reached by boat or plane.

Ny-Ålesund on the map of Svalbard.

Our route from Longyearbyen to Ny-Ålesund
on the Vessel Finder app.

Morning mist over the Kongsfjord.

View of Ny-Ålesund;

From the late 1960s, scientific research was the main activity in Ny-Ålesund. Today, however, it is a research station with scientists from more than 10 different countries, where only about 40 people live year-round, all working for the research stations or for Kings Bay, the company that “owns” and manages the village. In summer, the population can reach about 150 people. There is no supermarket in the settlement and all meals are provided by Kings Bay and eaten together in the dining hall.
The Arctic Center of the University of Groningen uses a number of buildings in Ny-Ålesund as a polar station.

Ny-Ålesund has its own airport, a port, a museum, the world’s northernmost post office and a souvenir shop.

The northernmost post office in the world.

Mining

At the museum you can learn more about the dramatic history of this village. From 1917 to 1962, the King’s Bay Kull Company exploited the mines in Ny-Ålesund. During this period, a number of serious accidents occurred and a total of 76 people lost their lives. The major mining accident of November 5, 1962 claimed a total of 21 lives and led to the end of mining in Ny-Ålesund.

Old steam train, a reminder of Ny-Ålesund’s mining past.

Roald Amundsen

Ny-Ålesund is also known for being the starting point for the expeditions of Roald Amundsen to the North Pole. Roald Amundsen was a Norwegian explorer who can rightly be called the star of the exploration of the polar regions. He was the first explorer to reach the Northwest Passage (1903-05), the first to reach the South Pole (1911), and the first to fly an airship over the North Pole. In 1926, Amundsen and the Italian aeronautical engineer Umberto Nobile set off for the North Pole from Ny-Ålesund in the Italian-designed airship “Norge”. You can still see the anchor tower where the airship “Norge” was docked.

This was also the starting point of Nobile’s second expedition to the North Pole. His airship “Italia” crashed on the way back. A large international rescue operation was launched, in which Amundsen participated. However, on the way to Svalbard, his plane crashed into the sea and was never recovered. Half of the crew of the “Italia” died in the crash. Nobile miraculously survived and was eventually rescued.

The bust of Roald Amundsen.

The anchor mast where the airships were docked.