Join Eskil Engdal and Kjetil Saeter at the Byran Writers Festival for Catching Thunder: The World's Longest Sea Chase, chaired by Debbie Whitmont.
Catching Thunder is a remarkable true story of courage and perseverance — and a wake-up call.
December 2014: in the forbidding waters off Antarctica, Captain Hammarstedt of the Sea Shepherd ship Bob Barker embarks on a voyage unlike any seen before. Across ten thousand miles of hazardous seas, Hammerstedt’s crew will relentlessly pursue the Thunder— an infamous illegal fishing ship — for what will become the longest chase in maritime history. Wanted by Interpol, the Thunder has for years evaded justice: accumulating millions in profits, hunting endangered species, and ruthlessly destroying ocean habitats.
The authors follow this incredible expedition from its very beginning. Yet even as seasoned journalists, they cannot anticipate what the chase will uncover, as the wake of the Thunder leads them to the trail of criminal kingpins, rampant corruption, modern slavery, and an international community content to turn a blind eye. Soon, catching Thunder becomes not only a chase but a pursuit of the truth itself and a symbolic race to preserve the well-being of our planet.
About the authors
Eskil Engdal has worked as a feature journalist at the Norwegian broadsheet Dagens Naeringsliv for more than 20 years. He has won the prestigious SKUP journalism award for outstanding investigative reporting (2001), the International Reporter’s Journalism Award (2012), and the Golden Pen (2013).
Kjetil Saeter has worked as a journalist for the broadsheets Aftenposten and Finansavisen, and currently as feature writer for Dagens Naeringsliv. He has won two SKUP diplomas (2007 and 2010), the SKUP award (2011), and the Schibsted Journalism Award (2008).
