Roald Amundsen

1. German sail training vessel Roald Amundsen leaving Halifax June 7. She is flying the flags of Canada and Nova Scotia as a courtesy, the German flag and the flag of Fednav a Canadian owned shipping company, that must be sponsoring some of its activities. She should be flying a pilot flag, since there was a pilot abard. High atop her foremast is another as yet unidentified flag.

2. Roald Amundsen at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic on June 7.

3. HNoMS Roald Amundsen leaving Halifax April 1, 2009.

Roald Amundsen was one of the world's greatest explorers. Not satisfied with being the first to get through the Northwest Passage by ship, on the Gjoa in 1903-1906, he then beat Scott to the South Pole in 1912 and continued exploring the north.

He was the first person to reach both poles, granted his North Pole visit was by airship in 1926. (Disputes about the three previous North Pole visitors may mean he was the first to reach it!)

No wonder then that many ships have been named after this great Norwegian. The German sail training vessel Roald Amundsen sailed yesterday for Quebec City and the Great Lakes.

Last year the Norwegian warship HNoMS Roald Amundsen visited Halifax.

Not to be outdone Canada has a large icebreaker/ research ship named Amundsen, which has visited Halifax too.