As shipping debates the pros and cons of using the North Sea Route (NSR) through the Arctic, a German-owned icebreaker has parked at the top of the world as part of a year-long study into global warming.

The F Laeisz-owned 11,820-dwt Polarstern (built 1982) set out on its multi-disciplinary drifting observatory for the study of Arctic climate (MOSAiC) mission two weeks ago.

It travelled from the Norwegian port of Tromso, supported by other icebreakers in search of a suitable piece of ice where it could set up a camp.

The ship has settled next to a thick ice floe on the Siberian side of the ocean basin. The precise location is 85 °N 137 °E.

The floe, which Polarstern will allow herself to become frozen to, is currently drifting in alternating directions, at up to 10 kilometres per day.

Consequently, the organisers say one of the most important milestones in the expedition has been reached ahead of schedule, and before the Polar Night falls.

Nevertheless, the search, which involved satellite imagery, two icebreakers, helicopter flights and scouting missions on the surface of the ice, was an enormous challenge – partly because, after the warm summer, there were very few sufficiently thick floes in the expedition’s start region.

If everything goes wrong, Polarstern needs to remain our last stronghold – and I will make sure of that. That’s my task.

Captain Stefan Schwarze

Working in the dark, and in unfamiliar territory, is said to have posed a serious challenge. These efforts were coordinated and monitored with infrared cameras from Polarstern’s bridge.

Further, members of the expedition’s polar bear patrol accompanied the researchers on the ice to ensure their safety.

“After a brief but intensive search, we’ve found our home for the months to come,” said expedition leader Markus Rex, from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI).

“Other parts of the floe are typical of the new Arctic, which is home to thinner, less stable ice. And precisely this combination makes it very well suited to our scientific projects.

“After carefully reviewing all relevant data, including that from our Russian partners, we came to the conclusion: it may not be the perfect floe, but it’s the best one in this part of the Arctic, and offers better working conditions than we could have expected after a warm Arctic summer.

“We’ll have to wait and see if it’s also stable enough to withstand the autumnal storms that are now brewing. But we’re prepared for all scenarios,” he adds.

The project, which has an overall budget of €140m ($150m), will see around 300 experts hailing from 17 countries spend time board the vessel.

They will gather data on five major aspects – atmosphere, sea ice, ocean, ecosystem and biogeochemistry – in a bid to better understand the interactions that shape the Arctic climate and life in the Arctic Ocean.

The Polarstern pictured in the port of Tromso prior to departure for the Arctic Photo: Alfred-Wegener-Institut

The expedition participants will connect the research camp with a network of measuring stations set up over a radius of 50 km by researchers using the escort icebreaker Akademik Fedorov.

The MOSAiC school on board the Akademik Fedorov will offer 20 young polar researchers, undergraduates and PhD students the unique opportunity to take part in the initial phase of the expedition and to learn about conducting polar expeditions at firsthand.

As soon as the so-called distributed network has been completed, the two icebreakers will come together for a final exchange of crew and supplies before the Akademik Fedorov returns to Tromso, where she is due to arrive on 30 October.

The researchers on board Polarstern will remain there until mid-December, when they will be replaced by the second team.

During its 12-month mission an international fleet of four icebreakers, helicopters and aircraft will supply the team on its epic voyage , and there will be further team changes over the coming year.

There is also an accompanying flight campaign planned for spring 2020, for which a landing strip will be carved out of the sea ice.

Captain Stefan Schwarze in front of the Polarstern in dry dock at LloydWerft in Bremerhaven Photo: Esther Horvath

In late summer 2020, between Greenland and Svalbard, the Polarstern will free herself from the ice and head back to her homeport of Bremerhaven, Germany, where she is expected to arrive in mid-October 2020.

Stefan Schwarze, captain of the Polarstern, commented: “The Polarstern is about 40 years old, and it is an excellent icebreaker – and one of the best vessels to sail the seas.

“It is often the case that good icebreakers are bad sea-going vessels. But this is not true at all for Polarstern, making her genuinely unique in this respect.

“The Polarstern is central to MOSAiC – the hub everything revolves around, and everyone returns to.

“If something goes wrong, Polarstern always remains solid as a rock. If everything goes wrong, Polarstern needs to remain our last stronghold – and I will make sure of that. That’s my task.”