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Russian sub-sea explorers launch epic North Pole probe
AFP
MOSCOW
Petroleumworld.com 07 25 07
A Russian expedition in which two parliament members will explore the North Pole seabed in a mini-submarine set out from the northern port of Murmansk on Tuesday, an expedition organiser said.
The unprecedented expedition is part of Russia's efforts to assert territorial claims well north of its Arctic coast in territory thought to contain significant oil, gas and other reserves.
"The Arctic is ours and we should demonstrate our presence," the expedition's 67-year-old leader, the explorer and member of parliament Artur Chilingarov, said on television earlier.
Chilingarov, fellow parliamentarian Vladimir Gruzdev and scientist Anatoly Sagalevich aim to descend in the Mir submersible vehicle 4,200 metres (14,000 feet) to the bottom of the Arctic Ocean beneath the pole.
Organisers even have a tentative plan for a telephone link-up with the International Space Station from the seabed.
On Thursday the nuclear-powered ice-breaker Rossiya, designed to cut through heavy ice at speed, set off for the pole from the Barents Sea port of Murmansk.
It was to be followed just after midnight by the expedition's "flagship," the Akademik Fyodorov, expedition organiser Vladimir Strugatsky told AFP.
Once on the seabed the three men on board the Mir will carry out scientific experiments and probes and will leave behind a Russian flag and a capsule containing a message for future generations, Sagalevich said in an interview with the Izvestia newspaper.
The descent is expected to begin on Sunday.
The expedition comes amid heightened international interest in the Arctic, prompted by increased melting of the ice as well as expectations of untapped energy reserves.
Earlier Chilingarov said the expedition would help advance Russia's Arctic claims, which are disputed by other countries, including the United States.
In 2001 Russia made a submission to a United Nations commission claiming extra territorial waters off its northern coast.
The claim is based on the contention that a ridge of seabed known as the Lomonosov Ridge, which extends into northern Canada, is actually an extension of continental Russia.
The United States has opposed Russian attempts to claim absolute control in large swathes of ocean off its northern coast, arguing that these waters should from a legal viewpoint be fully open to international shipping.
In a statement, Gruzdev said: "We must remind the whole world that Russia is a great polar and scientific power."
In Tuesday's Izvestia interview Sagalevich described the difficulties he expected to
encounter, particularly when returning to the surface.
"The ice ceiling above our heads will be of varying thickness, from a metre to dozens of metres. With the help of our navigational equipment we will have to find a big enough gap," he said.
In a speech aboard a nuclear ice-breaker in May, President Vladimir Putin called for greater efforts to secure Russia's "strategic, economic, scientific and defence interests" in the Arctic.
The polar expedition has been portrayed by media here as an epic quest reminiscent of past eras of polar discovery.
"The coming event is considered historic, both in terms of the unique sub-sea descent and even more importantly in terms of Russia's strategic interests in the Arctic," the weekly newspaper Russky Kuryer said.
Russia's 2001 submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf has yet to be ruled upon.
Another twin project of Chilingarov's is to develop the maritime passage that runs across the top of Russia between Europe and Asia known as the Northern Sea Route. The route could potentially cut thousands of kilometres (miles) off shipping routes between Europe and Asia.
AFP 24 1417 GMT 07 07
Russia to claim North Pole
Mini-sub to place flag on ocean floor of Arctic
Reuters
Published: Wednesday, July 25, 2007
MOSCOW -- A Russian expedition yesterday sailed for the North Pole, where it plans to send a mini-sub crew to plant a flag on the seabed and symbolically claim the Arctic for the Kremlin.
The mission is part of a race to assert rights over the Arctic, an icy wasteland that is rich in energy reserves and, as climate change melts the ice, could open up to form a lucrative shortcut for ships sailing between Asia and North America.
"The Arctic is Russian," expedition leader and parliamentary deputy Artur Chilingarov said. "We are going to be the first to put a flag there, a Russian flag at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean, at the very point of the North Pole."
A nuclear-powered icebreaker will smash through the weakened Arctic ice, leading the way for the main expedition ship that will launch the sub.
One of their biggest worries is resurfacing at the same hole in the ice they entered -- missing it could mean becoming trapped as the mini-sub is not powerful enough to break through the ice.
International law states the five countries with territory inside the Arctic Circle -- Russia, the U.S., Canada, Norway and Denmark via its control of Greenland -- are limited to a 320-kilometre economic zone around their coastline.
But Since 2001, Russia has claimed a larger slice extending as far as the North Pole because, Moscow says, the Arctic seabed and Siberia are linked via the same continental shelf.
The three-man sub team say they plan to carry out scientific research.
"I think we will be the first submariners to travel along the ocean floor under the North Pole," said Anatoly Sagalevich, sub designer and team member.
The first sub to travel under the pole was the U.S. nuclear submarine USS Nautilus in 1958 but it did not stop on the sea floor.
"We will be the first to see the seabed under the North Pole and we will plant a Russian flag made from titanium," said Sagalevich.
The sea is between 4,300 metres and 4,500 metres deep at the North Pole, the team members said.
AFP
MOSCOW
Petroleumworld.com 07 25 07
A Russian expedition in which two parliament members will explore the North Pole seabed in a mini-submarine set out from the northern port of Murmansk on Tuesday, an expedition organiser said.
The unprecedented expedition is part of Russia's efforts to assert territorial claims well north of its Arctic coast in territory thought to contain significant oil, gas and other reserves.
"The Arctic is ours and we should demonstrate our presence," the expedition's 67-year-old leader, the explorer and member of parliament Artur Chilingarov, said on television earlier.
Chilingarov, fellow parliamentarian Vladimir Gruzdev and scientist Anatoly Sagalevich aim to descend in the Mir submersible vehicle 4,200 metres (14,000 feet) to the bottom of the Arctic Ocean beneath the pole.
Organisers even have a tentative plan for a telephone link-up with the International Space Station from the seabed.
On Thursday the nuclear-powered ice-breaker Rossiya, designed to cut through heavy ice at speed, set off for the pole from the Barents Sea port of Murmansk.
It was to be followed just after midnight by the expedition's "flagship," the Akademik Fyodorov, expedition organiser Vladimir Strugatsky told AFP.
Once on the seabed the three men on board the Mir will carry out scientific experiments and probes and will leave behind a Russian flag and a capsule containing a message for future generations, Sagalevich said in an interview with the Izvestia newspaper.
The descent is expected to begin on Sunday.
The expedition comes amid heightened international interest in the Arctic, prompted by increased melting of the ice as well as expectations of untapped energy reserves.
Earlier Chilingarov said the expedition would help advance Russia's Arctic claims, which are disputed by other countries, including the United States.
In 2001 Russia made a submission to a United Nations commission claiming extra territorial waters off its northern coast.
The claim is based on the contention that a ridge of seabed known as the Lomonosov Ridge, which extends into northern Canada, is actually an extension of continental Russia.
The United States has opposed Russian attempts to claim absolute control in large swathes of ocean off its northern coast, arguing that these waters should from a legal viewpoint be fully open to international shipping.
In a statement, Gruzdev said: "We must remind the whole world that Russia is a great polar and scientific power."
In Tuesday's Izvestia interview Sagalevich described the difficulties he expected to
encounter, particularly when returning to the surface.
"The ice ceiling above our heads will be of varying thickness, from a metre to dozens of metres. With the help of our navigational equipment we will have to find a big enough gap," he said.
In a speech aboard a nuclear ice-breaker in May, President Vladimir Putin called for greater efforts to secure Russia's "strategic, economic, scientific and defence interests" in the Arctic.
The polar expedition has been portrayed by media here as an epic quest reminiscent of past eras of polar discovery.
"The coming event is considered historic, both in terms of the unique sub-sea descent and even more importantly in terms of Russia's strategic interests in the Arctic," the weekly newspaper Russky Kuryer said.
Russia's 2001 submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf has yet to be ruled upon.
Another twin project of Chilingarov's is to develop the maritime passage that runs across the top of Russia between Europe and Asia known as the Northern Sea Route. The route could potentially cut thousands of kilometres (miles) off shipping routes between Europe and Asia.
AFP 24 1417 GMT 07 07
Russia to claim North Pole
Mini-sub to place flag on ocean floor of Arctic
Reuters
Published: Wednesday, July 25, 2007
MOSCOW -- A Russian expedition yesterday sailed for the North Pole, where it plans to send a mini-sub crew to plant a flag on the seabed and symbolically claim the Arctic for the Kremlin.
The mission is part of a race to assert rights over the Arctic, an icy wasteland that is rich in energy reserves and, as climate change melts the ice, could open up to form a lucrative shortcut for ships sailing between Asia and North America.
"The Arctic is Russian," expedition leader and parliamentary deputy Artur Chilingarov said. "We are going to be the first to put a flag there, a Russian flag at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean, at the very point of the North Pole."
A nuclear-powered icebreaker will smash through the weakened Arctic ice, leading the way for the main expedition ship that will launch the sub.
One of their biggest worries is resurfacing at the same hole in the ice they entered -- missing it could mean becoming trapped as the mini-sub is not powerful enough to break through the ice.
International law states the five countries with territory inside the Arctic Circle -- Russia, the U.S., Canada, Norway and Denmark via its control of Greenland -- are limited to a 320-kilometre economic zone around their coastline.
But Since 2001, Russia has claimed a larger slice extending as far as the North Pole because, Moscow says, the Arctic seabed and Siberia are linked via the same continental shelf.
The three-man sub team say they plan to carry out scientific research.
"I think we will be the first submariners to travel along the ocean floor under the North Pole," said Anatoly Sagalevich, sub designer and team member.
The first sub to travel under the pole was the U.S. nuclear submarine USS Nautilus in 1958 but it did not stop on the sea floor.
"We will be the first to see the seabed under the North Pole and we will plant a Russian flag made from titanium," said Sagalevich.
The sea is between 4,300 metres and 4,500 metres deep at the North Pole, the team members said.