Fairhaven, Svalbard

Fairhaven is an area of Norway. Generally speaking, it is the area between Amsterdam Island and Danes Island and the mainland, while specifically it refers to the sound between Danes Island and the mainland (Albert I Land), in particular the strait between Moseøya and Danes Island. The modern name for this area is Smeerenburgfjorden (a modern blunder, as Smeerenburg was only a settlement).

The fjord is 20 km long and 4 km wide.

Willem Barentsz was the first to explore the area around Fairhaven in 1596. The first indisputable visit by the English was made by Jonas Poole in the Amity in 1610. Thomas Marmaduke is known to have explored the area north of Fairhaven in 1612, and may have explored Fairhaven itself as well. Again, the following season (1613), Marmaduke explored as far north as Fairhaven. The first known whaling here occurred in 1614, with the Dutch resorting to Amsterdam Island and the English to the south. Here they both establish temporary whaling stations, the former most likely on the southeastern spit of Amsterdam Island, and the latter probably on the southeastern corner of Danes Island. In 1615, they again made their way to their respective anchorages in Fairhaven. In 1619 and 1620 there were also at least two Danish ships sharing the southern area with the English. The English continued to send ships to Fairhaven until 1624 or 1625, when the Dutch took over the area.

In 1619 the Dutch replaced the tents and temporary tryworks on Amsterdam Island with permanent structures of wood and brick, in what would become known as Smeerenburg, or "Blubbertown." At first only the men of Amsterdam and the Danes established themselves on the island, with the former claiming the east and the latter the west. By 1623 several chambers of the Noordsche Compagnie had erected structures for the processing and warehousing of whale oil, and by 1633 all the chambers were represented. Up to 200 men worked ashore during the peak years in the mid-1630s. The settlement began to decline in the early 1640s, and was probably abandoned in the following decade.

...
Wikipedia