The rogue Norwegian adventurer Jarle Andhoy says he has found no sign of the missing Berserk and that he can get out of Antarctic waters before sea ice traps his yacht.
Mr Andhoy, 34, along with fellow Norwegian Samuel Massie, 19, New Zealander Busby Noble, 53, and a Russian skipper, is aboard the yacht Nilaya in McMurdo Sound.
They are trying to discover what happened to the support ship Berserk, which sank in a massive storm in February last year - with the loss of three lives - as Mr Andhoy and Mr Massie tried to reach the South Pole on quad bikes.
Mr Andhoy told Radio New Zealand, via satellite phone, they had now sailed the coast of McMurdo Sound but found no traces of the Berserk.
He planned to search two more places before sailing north.
Mr Andhoy's expedition has attracted criticism because he does not have permission to be in Antarctic waters and that he is putting potential rescuers at risk if he gets into trouble.
But he said he had all the equipment he needed to get out of the Ross Sea and it was still OK to sail through the ice.
He told the broadcaster the most important thing for any expedition was to return safely.
That was despite the Nilaya not carrying any emergency beacons so as not to put rescuers at risk.
Mr Andhoy said he still wanted to know what went on between the New Zealand navy vessel HMNZS Wellington and Berserk before last year's violent storm.
There were questions about why the Berserk left safe anchorage to head into the storm, he said.
The Wellington's skipper, Lieutenant-Commander Simon Griffiths, says he only passed on a weather forecast to the Berserk and did not give advice to the yacht's crew.
The navy ship was later involved in the unsuccessful attempt to find the Berserk after the storm.
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