 Research would be carried out across a range of disciplines, and Borchgrevink hoped that the scientific results would be complemented by spectacular geographical discoveries and journeys, even perhaps an attempt on the geographical South Pole itself; he was unaware at this stage that the site of the base at Cape Adare would not allow access to the Antarctic interior.For his expedition's ship, Borchgrevink purchased in 1897 a steam whaler, "Pollux", that had been built in 1886 in Arendal on the south east coast of Norway, to the design of renowned shipbuilder Colin Archer.Archer had designed and built Fridtjof Nansen's ship, , which in 1896 had returned unscathed from its long drift in the northern polar ocean during Nansen's "Fram" expedition.