Academician Fedorov ship and Rossia icebreaker are currently at 86 degree of northern latitude. They will reach the North Pole August 1.
Photo: Olga Chumachenko
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Academician Fedorov to Reach North Pole Aug 1
Academician Fedorov vessel is expected to reach the North Pole on August 1. The manned deep-sea Mir-1 and Mir-2 bathyscaphes will submerge there, RIA Novosti reported with reference to Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute of Rosgidromet.
Academician Fedorov ship and Rossia icebreaker that accompanies it en route to the North Pole are currently at 86 degree of northern latitude, spokesman of Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute said referring to the vessel’s captain. “The ice situation enables to suppose that both ships will reach the North Pole August 1,” he specified.
The deep-sea diving is slated for August 1 or 2, RIA Novosti reported earlier with reference to Sergey Balyasnikov, aide to PR director of Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute.
It will be the first time that Mir-1 and Mir-2 dive in the North Pole. President of Polar Explorers’ Association Artur Chilingarov will be in one of the bathyscaphes. The depth of the Arctic Ocean at the diving point is roughly 4,200 meters.
Moreover, the explorers will set a titanium capsule with Russia’s flag on the ocean’s bottom.
But the key aim of this northern effort of Russia is apparently to specify borders of its shelf from Novosibirsk to the North Pole. The significance of this correction is hard to overestimate. The Arctic ice lost nearly 20 percent in the last two decades and today's concern of the bordering nations is to stake competition claims for the area’s wealth. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the Arctic seabed and subsoil account for 25 of global undiscovered reserves of crude oil and gas.
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