The crew of the scientific expedition vessel Akademik Treshnikov successfully rotated polar station crews, delivered food and other supplies to the North Pole ice-resistant platform and towed it by 430 kilometers from the Western to the Eastern Hemisphere, according to the press service of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI).

It took the vessel 40 days to cover about 14,500 km across drifting sea-ice formations to reach a point at a staggering 87 degrees and 52 minutes Northern Latitude. The vessel docked at Cape Baranov in the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago and delivered food and other supplies for the upcoming winter season, also rotating polar explorers. After that, it sailed toward one of the remotest Arctic sectors in the Western Hemisphere where the North Pole-42 station is currently drifting. They linked up at 300 km from the geographic North Pole.

“Scientists and crew members boarded the ice-resistant platform, and about 50 metric tons of essential items, including fresh foodstuffs, fuel, scientific equipment and parcels from home, were also delivered,” the AARI press release said.