During this entire time no refrigeration was used.
The condition was that no form of refrigeration should be used.
This was equivalent to about $17,000 per kg in 2019 currency, which was a lot of money.
Glassvatt declared that they accept the challenge, and at once there was a furor across the nation.
When Radio Luxembourg realized their folly and the potential loss they faced, they retracted the offer.
They decided that the expedition would be an opportunity to show the quality of their insulation material.
Other companies also wanted to be a part of it.
Shell provided the fuel, and Scania provided the truck.
The block was placed in a specially constructed iron container, which was insulated with wood and glass wool.
The expedition left Mo i Rana, on 22 February 1959.
Through Europe the expedition was met with ceremony wherever they stopped.
At Marseille the truck was lifted aboard a freighter and sailed across the Mediterranean.
When it landed in Algiers, the container was drained to see how much of the ice had melted.
In spite of the unusually hot European weather that season, only four liters of water had been shed.
The first leg of the expedition, through Europe, was easy.
What lay ahead proved to be difficultthe vast sands of the Sahara.
Under these circumstances it was foolhardy for an European expedition to make a crossing through an African nation.
However, it was the elements that posed the biggest risks.
Each time the crew had to get out in the hot sun and spend hours digging under the wheels.
The men were exhausted.
Their supply of water was limited and the temperature often soared to 50 degree centigrade during the day.
Finally, after twenty-seven days of driving, the expedition arrived at its final destination of Libreville.
Drained by the experience, the men were eager to get back home.
The ice itself was cut up and divided between the African localspeople who had never seen ice before.
