Vega Expedition

[2] Nordenskiöld had already conducted a series of expeditions in the Arctic, including to Svalbard, West Greenland, the Kara Sea and the Yenisei River.

[3] [4] The steamship Vega, constructed in 1872 at Bremerhaven as a sealer and whaler, was bought for the expedition, and was converted at the Karlskrona naval shipyards in Blekinge, Sweden, with government funding.

[5] Noted members of the international team included: The purpose of the expedition was to collect scientific material from the Arctic and to circumnavigate Asia.

Vega's progress stopped in pack ice on 28 September 1878, about 1.5 kilometers from the coast at the Chukchi Peninsula at Neshkan, only days from the Bering Strait.

[9][8] The crew member Vega-Sven recounts the event: "I dag på morgonen så kom där till oss 3 båtar med människor, de var vilda, de ville gå ombord men vi måtte ta oss ett gevär och skjuta innan vi kunde styra dän.

[8] As the winter progressed, the Swedes spent their time east of the Chukchis town of Pitlekaj in the bay of Koljutjinskaja, thus delaying the expedition by around a year.