From Crosby’s "Ecological Imperialism"
“Even so, hafvilla is a word that appears often in the sagas. It means the loss of all sense of direction at sea, a state that could last for days or even weeks, even, we may suppose, to death.”
Some more here:
Hafvilla: A Note on Norse Navigation
I may take the phrase “All available means” too literally but with an instance of hafvilla it would apply.