ST. PETERSBURG, September 13. /TASS/. The Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI, St. Petersburg) plans to make the North Pole unique ice-resistant platform a base for international cooperation. Russian polar explorers invited scientists from China, India and Brazil to participate in the project, the institute's Director Alexander Makarov told reporters.
"The vessel will definitely become a platform, including for international cooperation. <...> We have invited scientists from China, India and Brazil to participate in next stages of its work. We continue discussing joint scientific programs in terms of research, equipment, numbers of scientists, and we have reached a general agreement," he said.
The parties will verify research programs and schedules for scientists from the BRICS countries, he added. The North Pole platform will depart for another expedition on September 15. It will continue to the spring of 2026. Scientific groups and crew will work in shifts during that mission.
The institute's director highlighted the actively developing international cooperation between Russian and foreign scientists. In November, the second Circumpolar expedition in the Antarctica (expedition around the continent), organized jointly with Russian scientists, is due to start from Brazil. About 80 specialists from more than ten countries will take part in it. The first Circumpolar expedition was in the 2016-2017 season.
Russian scientists are discussing with Chinese counterparts an international scientific center on Spitsbergen. In August, in Buenos Aires, Russia inked an agreement to extended cooperation in the Antarctica on the DROMLAN international logistics project, featuring more than 10 countries.
The institute plans to expand the participation of foreign scientists in the POLAR annual international scientific and business conference, the institute's director said.
About the North Pole project
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.