Arktika 2007

MIR submersible.

On July 29 the Akademik Fedorov approached a large ice-hole, surrounded by thick ice at 82°29′N 64°28′E, 47 miles (76 km) north of Franz Josef Land. There, the submersibles, each with one person on board, performed test dives. Anatoly Sagalevich took the MIR-1 down at 9:36 Moscow Time and Yevgeny Chernyaev followed at the controls of MIR-2 at 10:00. At 10:32 MIR-1 reached the seabed at a depth of 1,311 metres (4,301 ft), and by 11:10 MIR-2 also was at the ocean bottom. Both surfaced at 14:20.[10][11]

Descents were carried out on August 2, 2007 in both MIR Deep Submergence Vehicles. The MIR-1's crew consisted of pilot Anatoly Sagalevich (researcher of the Oceanology Institute), Russian polar explorer Arthur Chilingarov and businessman Vladimir Gruzdev. The MIR-2's crew comprised pilot Yevgeny Chernyaev of Russia, Australian adventurer Mike McDowell, and Swede Frederik Paulsen Jr., head of Ferring Pharmaceuticals).[12]

MIR-1 began its dive at 9:28 Moscow Time and at 12:08 reached the seabed 4,261 metres (13,980 ft) below the North Pole. MIR-2 began its dive at 9:47 and at 12:35 reached the seabed 4,302 metres (14,114 ft) down. At 12:35 the bathyscaphes were 500 metres (1,600 ft) apart and MIR-1 moved near MIR-2. At 13:46 both submersibles began to ascend, with MIR-1 surfacing at 18:08 and MIR-2 at 19:15.[13]

On the seabed, 4,261 metres (13,980 ft) below the Polar ice, MIR-1 planted a 1-metre (3 ft 3 in) tall titanium Russian flag, made at Kaliningrad's "Fakel" 'design bureau.'[14] It also left a time capsule, containing a message for future generations and a flag of the pro-President Vladimir Putin United Russia party.[15] Soil and water samples of the seabed were taken during the mission.[14]

According to the USS Nautilus measurements, the sea depth at the North Pole in 1958 was only 4,087 metres (13,409 ft)[16][17]

Russian state broadcaster Rossiya had enhanced footage of the Arktika expedition with sequences taken by MIR submersibles for the 1997 film Titanic, as an illustration of the submarines in action, in which the Finnish-built bathyscaphes had explored the wrecked liner on the Atlantic seabed.[18] The same images were rebroadcast by Reuters, which mistook them as actual footage of part of the expedition.

It was later recognized, that the submersibles used in the voyage to the bottom of the sea as appearing in sequences director James Cameron's Oscar-winning drama.[19] International news agency Reuters had on August 10 admitted it had wrongly captioned video it took from Russia's Rossiya Television and which it had disseminated worldwide, London's Guardian reported.[20] The agency, the daily reported, had admitted: it had “mistakenly identified this file footage as originating from the Arctic, and not the North Atlantic where the footage was shot. This footage was taken during the search for the Titanic and copyright is held by Rossiya."[20][21]

On its way back to Franz Josef Land to collect marine biologists, the Akademik Fedorov on August 4 met the French Tara expedition. The ship's MI-8 helicopter landed near the yacht, which had been drifting for eleven months, Rossiya's Vesti reported. The Russian expedition, led by Arthur Chilingarov, had supplied the Tara expedition with food[22] Tara's schooner Agnès B had set out a year earlier to drift with the Arctic ice for two years, measuring the retreat of the Polar ice cap, its log shows. The Russians had asked to 'visit ... on their return from the Pole, we accepted their request', the log reads'[23] 'A group of a dozen officials and journalists' brought 'gifts of fresh fruit and vegetables and a few bottles of wine ... we found the meeting somewhat surreal'. The French expedition had 9 tonnes (8.9 long tons; 9.9 short tons) of food and was growing its own — ‘...salad...is what we have grown...most [to date]. Corn salad grows very well’, even at those latitudes [but] ‘...it seems a bit premature to consider [us] a self sufficient Arctic base food wise', the Agnès B's Bruno Vienne told hydroponics advisers Les Jardins Suspendus[24]

The first stage of the Arktika 2007 expedition ended on August 7, 2007, when both MIR submersibles were transferred from Akademik Fedorov aboard Akademik Mstislav Keldysh, met in Nagurskaya Bay, which is situated in the Cambridge Channel of Franz Josef Land.[25]

Akademik Fedorov then sailed towards the "Ice Base", a group of nine polar explorers led by A.A.Visnevsky landed on June 7, 2007 from the nuclear icebreaker Russia at the point 80°57′N 168°53′E The corresponding ice floe was a candidate for the "NP-35" establishment, but since then its area greatly reduced and became inappropriate for this. Sailing through the northern part of the Kara Sea Akademik Fedorov reached the northern part of Laptev Sea, then returned, passed by Schmidt Island and sailed southwards towards Shokalsky Strait of Severnaya Zemlya. 26 oceanographic stations were carried out and Mi-8 flights were performed from the research vessel to Schmidt Island for ornithology research and to north-eastern islands of Franz Joseph Land for glaciology, geology and ornithology research. Ornithology research was also conducted on Severnaya Zemlya islands. In particular, a significant part of the ivory gull range was observed and six new colonies of these birds found.[26]

By August 17 Akademik Fedorov passed Shokalsky Strait and six days later collected the "Ice Base".[27] On August 28 the research vessel anchored by the Tiksi roadstead to perform the rotation of expedition members and left for New Siberian Islands next day. Akademik Fedorov skirted them around from the north, carrying out oceanographic stations and a Mi-8 flight to Bennett Island was performed for geology probe and pollution probe.[28]

On September 5 Akademik Fedorov met nuclear icebreaker Russia and started a search for an ice floe suitable for "NP-35" manned drifting ice station establishment, beginning the third stage of "Arktika 2007" expedition.[29]

The search for appropriate ice floe for the establishment of the "North Pole-35" (abbreviated as "NP-35") manned drifting ice station lasted until September 18, when one with an area of 16 square kilometres (6.2 sq mi) was found. Some 300 tonnes (300 long tons; 330 short tons) of cargo was disembarked from the vessel to ensure long functioning of the station. "NP-35" started operations on September 21, 2007 at the point 81°26′N 103°30′E, when flags of Russia and Saint Petersburg were raised there. 22 scientists, led by A.A.Visnevsky are working on the ice floe. The station is believed to work for a year, drifting towards the Fram Strait.[30]

On September 22 Akademik Fedorov left for Murmansk and reached its home port, Saint Petersburg, on October 3, finishing the high latitude Arctic expedition Arktika 2007. Arthur Chilingarov sent a government telegram to congratulate expedition members on behalf of State Duma.[31]