The called themselves the Wild Vikings.  They were to be the “new generation of explorers.”  From their website:

The crew onboard Berserk II wish to pick up the old Norsemen traditions opposed to todays so called “civilized” and often artificial way of living. Instead of being a part of the playstation-generation, in a 7 – 4 life with computers, electrical tinopeners and washingmachines, they seek adventures and exploration in the spirit of the ancient vikings. Simply equipped on a low budget, The wild vikings turn the time back to the old days when men were men. Back to basics. Back to nature in harmony with its simple and real beauty to the worlds remote corners.

The 48′ steel yacht, Berserk II, with a crew of five sailed for Antarctica with the intent of reaching the South Pole “in the wake of Admunsen.”   The yacht dropped off two “explorers” on shore in McMurdo Sound on the Antarctic coast.  An empty and damaged life raft was found today, believed to be from the Berserk II. There is no sign of the  remaining crew of three.

On Tuesday, as reported by Voxy.c.nz :   the Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ) picked up a signal from a distress beacon registered to the yacht Berserk about 5pm on Tuesday 22 February (NZDT). The yacht’s position at that time was 18 nautical miles (33km) north of Scott Base, in the Ross Sea. There has been no communication from the vessel since, and its distress beacon is no longer transmitting.

Today searchers from the Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin located a damaged life raft from the Berserk:

Damaged liferaft found in Antarctic

There was no sign the liferaft had ever been occupied and evidence also indicated it had floated free from the vessel and not been released manually.

Steve Irwin skipper Paul Watson earlier said chances of finding the crew alive were ”pretty much zero”.

Two of the crew aboard the Berserk II when last seen were reported to be Norwegian and the third was from Great Britain.