30 Sep 2024 21:41

Russia's North Pole 42 station begins work in Arctic Ocean

ST. PETERSBURG. Sept 30 (Interfax) - Russia's North Pole 42 drifting station began work in the Arctic Ocean on Monday, the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute said in a statement.

"The first to have started working in the scientific ice camp is a meteorological laboratory, from which, as is the long-standing tradition, the first weather report has been sent to the mainland. Right after that the opening ceremony took place for the North Pole 42 drifting station, our polar explorers raised the Russian tricolor on the ice of the Arctic Ocean," the statement said.

The North Pole scientific expedition vessel, which is frozen into the ice under the influence of wind and currents, and the scientific camp will head towards the Greenland Sea, it said. After sailing out into the open water from the Fram Strait, the vessel will return to Murmansk on its own presumably in the spring of 2026.

The North Pole 42 expedition's scientific program includes more than 50 different scientific projects to study changes in the Arctic environment and assess the extent of eco systems' exposure. The data obtained will have a variety of uses, from improving forecast models to sea navigation to assessing the human impact on the environment, such as levels of microplastics, in the Arctic Ocean.

The polar expedition began on September 15, when the North Pole ice-proof platform departed Murmansk. The expedition will continue until 2026.

The North Pole 41 drifting station, supported by the North Pole ice-proof platform, began working in October 2022; the expedition was completed in May 2024.

The platform is designed for year-round comprehensive scientific research in the high latitudes of the Arctic Ocean. It is 67.8 meters long and 22.5 meters wide, with a displacement of around 7,500 tonnes, a maximum propulsion unit capacity of 3.6 megawatts, and a maximum speed of 10 knots. Its service life is around 30-35 years, periodic maintenance included.

The expeditions are a continuation of the national program of drifting polar stations which began in 1937 under the polar explorer Ivan Papanin.