ST. PETERSBURG, September 13. /TASS/. Another Arctic expedition, North Pole - 42, is due to begin on September 15, when the North Pole ice-resistant platform departs from the Murmansk port. The expedition will continue for 18 months, to the spring of 2026, the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute's Director Alexander Makarov told reporters.

"Next Sunday (September 15), the North Pole ice-resistant platform and expedition will depart from Murmansk," he said. "We continue the program of high-latitude drifting stations, which we have resumed with the North Pole - 41 expedition. <...> We will bring the platform to the area at 82 degrees north latitude. We plan the drift for a year and a half, that is, to the spring of 2026."

The North Pole - 41 expedition, organized for the first time on the unique ice-resistant self-propelled platform, has practiced all processes to use modern equipment in difficult conditions of drifting ice, and now the project develops into permanent continuous research of the Arctic seas, he continued.

"Nobody is doing anything of the kind and will not be doing it in the next ten years. That is, the North Pole expedition has taken the track of ongoing long-term research, and this project's term will be at least 30-40 years," he added.

From Murmansk the ship will sail through the Barents Sea, the Kara Sea and the Laptev Sea. North of the New Siberian Islands it will freeze into an ice floe to drift for several months. Scientific work will be carried out both in a camp, set up right on the ice floe, and on board the ship in specially equipped laboratories.

Compared to earlier expeditions, scientists will expand research areas to focus on laying directions of the Northern Sea Route, on climate change processes in the Arctic, the Arctic Ocean bottom's geological structure and shelf boundaries. They will study changes in the biosphere, and so on. In 2025, they will take part in the Emergency Situations Ministry's exercises in the Arctic.

About the North Pole platform

The North Pole is the world's first ice-resistant self-propelled platform, designed for year-round expeditions in the Arctic Ocean's northern latitudes. It does not require an icebreaker to sail to a designated area, it can drift for up to two years and return to port afterwards on its own. The platform can take on board Mil Mi-8AMT (Mi-171) helicopters. The vessel offers comfortable and safe operation when the air temperature is minus 50 degrees and humidity is 85%. The speed is at least 10 knots. The displacement is more than 10,000 tons. The vessel takes 14 crew members and 34 scientific personnel. The platform is equipped with an onboard scientific complex of 15 laboratories, a mobile field camp for accommodation on ice floes.