Ice-Locked Ship to Drift Over North Pole

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Ice-Locked Ship to Drift Over North Pole
By Jonathan Amos/ BBC Science Correspondent, Boston/ Science & Environment/ BBC News/ bbc.com

"It is being billed as the biggest single Arctic research expedition ever planned.

Germany is going to sail its 120m-long research vessel, the Polarstern, into the sea-ice at the top of the world and just let it get stuck so it can drift across the north pole.

The 2,500km (1,550-mile) trip, to begin in 2019, is likely to take a year.

Researchers hope to gather valuable new insights on the region where Earth's climate is changing fastest...."

MOSAIC
Image caption Possible route. The drift would start in the East Siberian Sea. RV Polastern would be taken over the top of the world and be released by the sea-ice in the Fram Strait between Greenland and Svalbard



Richard

 

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Daring Plan to Encase Ship in Arctic Ice Will Provide More Accurate Weather Forecasts
By Sarah Knapton, Science Editor, Boston/ News/ The Telegraph/ telegraph.co.uk

"A groundbreaking project to sail a huge research ship into the Arctic, and allow it to become encased in ice so it can monitor the climate, will bring more accurate weather forecasts for Britain.

The trapped icebreaker will be carried by slowly flowing ice on a 2,500km journey across the North Pole, allowing scientists to take measurements and make observations that have never before been possible in the harsh Arctic winter...."

On 7 September 1991, Polarstern, assisted by the Swedish arctic icebreaker Oden reached the North Pole as the first conventional powered vessels.


Richard