Anders Holte

Anders Nikolai Holte (28 August 1849 – 11 May 1937) was a Norwegian sea captain and navigator.

He was born in Trondenes as a son of fisherman Bertheus Andersen and Maren Marie Eliasdatter. He started working at sea in his teens. In 1892 he was hired as a coastal pilot by the company Vesteraalens Dampskibsselskab. The company's Richard With used Holte in the planning of a passenger route from Bergen to Northern Norway. Hotle was familiar with this route after a life at sea. Thus, Holte is credited with making a viable navigation system.^[1]

When Hurtigruten commenced on 2 July 1893, Holte was not involved, as he had been hired as a captain in Haalogalandske Dampskibsselskab. He held this job from 1892 to 1903, when he became office manager. He headed the company until 1910, and finished his career as coastal pilot from 1910 to 1933. He also participated in the latter phase of Nansen's Fram expedition, piloting the ship in to Skjervøy and southwards, being greeted by King Oscar II in Kristiania. Now and then Holte also piloted the Royal Norwegian Navy gunboat HNoMS Sleipner, which on many occasions accompanied Wilhelm II of Germany on his vacations in Norway.^[1]

He chaired the regional branch of the Norwegian Society for Sea Rescue from 1894 to 1935. He died in May 1937 in Harstad. He was honoured with HM The King's Medal of Merit in 1930, and a memorial stone in Harstad in 1980.^[1]

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