The Intrepid-DX Group announced over the weekend that it has cancelled its long-anticipated 3Y0J DXpedition to Bouvet Island. The DXpedition team had planned to travel to Bouvet via the RV Braveheart, owned by Nigel Jolly, K6NRJ. Jolly has told the DXpedition that Braveheart is being sold and he’s cancelled its contract for the 3Y0J voyage.

“The global pandemic has impacted the expedition charter vessel business very hard; this includes the venerable RV Braveheart, which has provided outstanding safety and service to many DXpeditions,” DXpedition co-leaders Paul Ewing, N6PSE, and Kenneth Opskar LA7GIA, said in announcing the news on June 13. “Today, we were informed that Braveheart will be sold. As a result, Nigel Jolly will no longer be associated with the ship, our contract with the ship has been cancelled, and our deposit will be refunded. This is a very disappointing development to all involved.”

The DXpedition said that it has stopped accepting donations and will refund 100% of the donations using the same method they were received. “This process will take several weeks to sort out, so please be patient,” the announcement said. “We wish to thank our team for putting their trust in us. We wish to thank all of the donors and sponsors that gave generously to this project. We will continue to research other ships and possibly find another suitable vessel for a future project.”

ARRL announced in April that it had awarded a $5,000 Colvin Grant to the Intrepid-DX Group to help in funding the DXpedition to Bouvet Island, scheduled for January to February 2023. A dependency of Norway, Bouvet is a sub-Antarctic island in the South Atlantic. It is the second-most-wanted DXCC entity, behind North Korea.