On March 15, 1931, the production was on the sealing ship S.S. Viking, shooting additional footage, when it got stuck in ice off the northern Newfoundland coast. The ship had dynamite onboard, and the crew used it in an attempt to break up the ice. The explosion destroyed the ship, killing 27 people, including director Varick Frissell, cinematographer Alexander G. Penrod, and almost all of the film crew.
Frissell and crew came to the Newfoundland in 1930 with a script called White Thunder. Most of the filming took place in Quidi Vidi but to capture real danger and adventure, the crew went aboard ship to the Grand Banks and Labrador to collect footage.After viewing it, he was not happy with it. He thought, if it was truly going to be a North Atlantic epic, it needed more footage of the icebergs, expansive ice floes and daring men. So he, and a small crew, set out aboard the sealing ship SS Viking, captained by Abram Kean Jr. and filled with local fisherman. By March 15, 1931 the SS Viking had made it to White Bay on the north coast of Newfoundland, where it encountered heavy ice. At 9pm, about 8 miles from Horse Island, the Viking was safe against the ice jam. They intended to stay there for the night. Then the SS Viking exploded with a sound so loud that it was heard for miles. The stern was completely destroyed and what remained of the ship was on fire. 27 people died, including Frissell and Cabot, his pet Newfoundland dog. It was thought the explosion was caused by blasting powder. At the time it was customary for sealing ships to carry explosives.There were reports of pipe smoking near the blasting powder. Despite the tragedy the film was released the following summer. It was screened under the new title The Viking. The final cut included a prologue delivered by Sir Wilfred Grenfell, detailing the events that led Frissell to Newfoundland and his untimely death.The movie has the dubious distinction of incurring the largest number of fatalities ever, in the production of a film.