ST. PETERSBURG, December 28. /TASS/. The North Pole - 41 expedition, drifting in the Arctic on the North Pole, the world's first ice-resistant self-propelled platform, is extended to spring, 2024. Thus, the Arctic Ocean drift's term would be more than 18 months, and the next expedition is due to start in August, 2024, Director of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI, St. Petersburg) Alexander Makarov told reporters.

"Right now, the North Pole - 41 expedition continues drifting. The decision is the expedition's term will continue to spring, 2024. Thus, the drifting will be for more than a year and a half. <...> In the spring, the drift will be completed, the vessel will sail to Murmansk, undergo maintenance works, and in August, 2024, the platform will depart on the North Pole - 42 expedition," he said.

The idea to extend the term originated from the drifting trajectory of the ice floe, to which the North Pole platform is moored. During the expedition, the platform has sailed about 4,000 km along a difficult route, the distance covered made 1,200 km in a straight line.

In early 2024, the team will be replaced. Presently, 80% of the scientific staff has been working on the drifting station since the very beginning of the expedition. The Russian State Museum of the Arctic and Antarctic participates in the Polar Mail project, under which along with a new team to the platform would be delivered cargo, gifts and parcels.

The expedition's scientists have collected valuable data on the influence of Pacific waters on the waters of the central Arctic Ocean, the institute's director said. Earlier, flows from the Pacific Ocean into the region have not been thoroughly studied, he continued, unlike waters from the Atlantic. Geologists have managed to sample sediments from the Arctic Ocean to clarify the geological structure map for that area of the planet.

About expedition

The North Pole - 41 expedition continues the program of complex drifting research missions in the Arctic's high latitudes, which started in the Soviet times. The world's first polar research drifting Arctic station North Pole (North Pole - 1) began operation on May 21, 1937. As many as 40 such expeditions have been organized.

In 2013, a team of scientists was evacuated from the North Pole - 40 drifting station, and the program was suspended for almost ten years. In September, 2022, the program resumed at a new technological level - the expedition is supported by the North Pole ice-resistant platform.

The world's first ice-resistant self-propelled North Pole platform is designed for year-round expeditions in the Arctic Ocean's northern latitudes. It does not require icebreakers to sail to the designated area, and it can drift for up to two years and sail back to the port. The vessel takes on board 14 crew and 34 researchers. The platform is equipped with an on-board scientific complex of 15 laboratories, a mobile field camp for accommodation on ice floes.