North Pole not icy

last updated 8 January 2015

St. Petersburg, Russia

A Russian transport ship sailed straight from St. Petersburg to the North Pole this week without assistance from an icebreaker. Russian scientists said the feat by the Akademik Fyodorov was a first in the history of seafaring. Artur Chilingarov, deputy speaker of the Duma and a respected polar scientist, said the voyage shows that once-thick ice has melted to a thin coating—proof of “a substantial warming of the planet’s climate.” The transport ship was carrying researchers to replace the team at a floating polar station. During the trip, scientists also measured the borders of Russia’s continental shelf.