The ice-resistant self-propelled platform North Pole has departed for contractor sea trials. According to the website of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation Aleksandr Kozlov was one of the people to send the unique vessel on its trials.

"There are no similar platforms anywhere else in the world. Admiralty Shipyards did everything to ensure that the trials would be carried out on time. You are now seeing the beautiful results of the plans that were conceived on a sheet of paper and supported by Russian government. We have also received instructions to develop new vessels for the Arctic, and we hope that Admiralty Shipyards will acts as our reliable partner for those future projects," said Aleksandr Kozlov.

"Today, on Polar Explorer Day, the ice-resistant platform North Pole goes out to sea for the first time. We are very pleased. In September, the vessel will depart for the Arctic to take part in the North Pole 41 expedition. The expedition will have an extensive research programme featuring meteorological, oceanological, hydrochemical and biological observations. However, we realize that the main objective of the first voyage will be to see how the vessel deals with the ice, test the new equipment and fine-tune the research process both on board the platform and on the ice", said Aleksandr Makarov, director of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute.

The trials, which will take place in the Baltic Sea, will verify the data specified in the sailing certificates concerning communication, steering and navigation systems, as well as check the work of auxiliary diesel generators, main diesel engine, support systems, auxiliary boilers and main vessel units.