Events
FSUE “Rosmorport” takes part in major international project for Arctic exploration
The FSUE “Rosmorport” Kapitan Dranitsyn icebreaker left the seaport of Murmansk on November 23, 2019 to take part in the international polar expedition MOSAiC (Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate) aimed at studying the influence of the Arctic Region on the global climate. For a year now the Polarstern drifting research ship frozen in one-year and multi-year ices will collect data on the northernmost region on the Earth. FSUE “Rosmorport” is Russia’s official partner of the global project.
The Norwegian port of Tromse is the intermediate place of destination of the Kapitan Dranitsyn icebreaker. Necessary scientific equipment and stocks will be gotten aboard. The exchange crew and a group of scientists, 95 people totally, will arrive aboard the ship to deliver cargoes to the drifting area of the expedition. Upon completion of supplies the FSUE “Rosmorport” icebreaker will return to the port of Tromse where the second transport stage will start approximately January 25, 2020.
It is not incidental that the Kapitan Dranitsyn has been chosen. The qualified crew of the ship led by Captain Alexander Yerpulev, who has been working on icebreakers, has taken part in such projects several times and very often in severe navigational and meteorological conditions.
The icebreaker has been thoroughly prepared before the voyage: full repairing has been made and up-to-date navigational equipment has been installed. The icebreaker will deliver fuel and foodstuffs to replenish stocks, as well as scientific and shipboard equipment for the Polarstern ship in two stages and each stage will take about six weeks.
The global inter-disciplinary research project involves 600 scientists from 19 countries of the world. For the first time the Arctic Region will become subject to uninterrupted exploration for the whole year. A network of ice stations has been built around the Polarstern ship. Data output, including for the winter, will help appreciate what has happened in the Arctic Region and how the climate will change in the whole northern hemisphere in the forthcoming future.
