politics
Aborted Rocket Launch From Andøya - Unauthorized Fishing Boat in Restricted Zone
There was great anticipation for Andøya Space's second attempt to launch a rocket into orbit from mainland Europe, but the launch was aborted due to an unauthorized fishing boat in the restricted zone. The fisherman denies that he deliberately sabotaged the launch.
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On Wednesday evening, the conditions were finally right for Andøya Space and Isar Aerospace to make their second attempt at making history by launching a rocket into orbit from mainland Europe. This has never been done before.
The first attempt took place in March last year. Shortly after the launch, the nearly 30-metre-high and 50-tonne rocket fell to the ocean and exploded.
This time, the launch was first postponed, then aborted at the last second.
At 20:54, the launch time was changed to 21:20 due to an unauthorized boat within the restricted zone.
At 21:18, the organizers confirmed that everything was ready for launch.
At 21:21, the launch was cancelled. German Isar Aerospace states that the new countdown exceeded the launch window.
Fishing boat in the way
The unauthorized boat was the longliner 'Einar'. Skipper Olafur Einarson denies that he deliberately tried to sabotage the rocket launch.
"We were supposed to be finished earlier, but we had problems with the currents and a tangle in the gear," says Einarsson to Kyst og Fjord.
He explains that the longline was set deep at 280 fathoms. With a 2.6-knot current, the fishermen had problems with hauling the longline.
"It is madness to let go of the gear under such conditions in order to leave the area while they're shooting. We would lose the gear," says Einarsson.
Einarsson has previously abided in the restricted zone during scheduled shooting outside of Andøya. Last fall, he got a German bombing exercise on Andfjorden cancelled because he did not want to leave the area that Andøya Space wanted to exercise in.
Yet, he rejects allegations of sabotage.
"I donæt know about anyone who has planned any sabotage. This is our workplace, are we committing sabotage by going to work? I can't believe that anyone thinks that. If we are delayed, that is not sabotage. We do our job and they do theirs," states the fisherman.
A bad neighbor
The fisherman still has his opinions about the activity on Andøya, which has a significant increase planned.
"As I have said before, this is a conflict over areas. For us fishermen, this is our workplace, and then they come here and want to use the same area. We have gotten a bad neighbor, you could say," says Einarsson to Kyst og Fjord and continues:
"Inviting other nations to come here and shoot and create more and more activity, without having an agreement with us, just makes things more and more difficult. Everyone has rights, but we believe we have a greater right than they do," says Einarsson.
After a German state visit to Andøya earlier this month, the fisherman believes there is a lot of prestige in the matter for the Norwegian state.
"We are concerned that they have made agreements with the Germans at a high political level, and that it might become easier for them to make legal changes. We are a bit worried about that, because our claim to fisheries becomes small compared to such opponents."
He also believes that Andøya Space's plans for 30 launches a year will be very problematic for fishermen in the area.
"Yes, it's quite a few days a year. It will never work if we have to plan our fishing around them."
