On 26 Dec 2019, Ragnar sent me an email from Thailand which he and his uncle were
visiting "to be sure our Bucket Lists are empty when we return home."
Ragnar suffered a major heart attack and died several days later on 21 January 2020 in
a Bangkok hospital. Services took place on 12 Feb 2020 near his home north of Oslo. His
ashes will be scattered at sea off the coast of Andoya.
We worked together on many projects over a 56 year period beginning in 1964
In 2017, when I was unable to obtain a copy of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
Organization Report of their acoustic detection of a strong signal that was time- and position-
correlated with the disappearance of the Argentine submarine SAN JUAN because the
US is not a member of the European Union which funds CTBTO activities, Ragnar got me
a copy of that document.
Analysis of the CTBTO data confirmed why and where the SAN JUAN was lost.
An Argentine source confirmed this assessment was provided to Argentine authorities by US
COMSOUTH. It was the basis for the Argentine termination of the SAR effort and the eventual
location of the SAN JUAN wreckage.
The SAN JUAN would not have been found nor would the details of the disaster been determined
without Ragnar's critical contribution. Thank you, old friend.