Academician Fyodorov research vessel back from Arctic voyage

RUSSIA, Oct. The Academician Fyodorov research vessel of the Russian Academy of Sciences returned to St. Petersburg from a 90-day Arctic voyage.

"It was an important expedition after the 12-year pause in the extensive polar research. Russia regained the authority of a leading polar nation," Director of the Arctic and Antarctica Research Institute Ivan Frolov told Itar-Tass.

The vessel covered 11,355 miles, including 8,794 through heavy ice, he said. It crossed Russia's five Arctic seas and updated the information about the Russian Arctic sea shelf. The research extends the Russian shelf zone with oil and gas deposits by 1.2 million square kilometers, Frolov said.

The Academician Fyodorov reached the North Pole on August 29. It was the first ever vessel to reach the North Pole without support of icebreakers.

On September 5 the Academician Fyodorov resettled polar explorers onto the North Pole 33 floating station, Itar-Tass reported.