18.08.2008 The Russian marine research vessel Akademik Fyodorov headed off to the Arctic with equipment for a new drifting North Pole station.
The vessel carry 64 researchers and 11 crew members, two helicopters, as well as more than 570 tons of equipment. The ship on 18 August headed east towards the Vilkitski straits and further to the island of Wragel, where 150 tons of equipment for a new research station will be unloaded.
The Akademik Fyodorov also carries 420 tons of equipment for this year’s drifting North Pole station. The North Pole - 36 is planned to start on an ice floe on 10 September and last until next summer. A group of 18 researchers, under the leadership of the experienced explorer Katarev, will man the station, Regnum reports.
The Akademik Fyodorov is expected to arrive in Murmansk on 24 September.
Russian researchers have long experience within Arctic research. Only last month, the North Pole – 35 ended dramatically when the ice floe on which the station was based dissolved north of Spitsbergen.