2024-08-05, Pituffik, north-west Greenland.

After a long planning phase, the day of departure is finally here. Yesterday, the Swedish Air Force flew a Hercules C-130 from Såtenäs to Arlanda and most of the 75 people to be transported to Pituffik, northwest Greenland, have spent the night nearby.

For a little over two weeks, Oden has been traveling from Helsingborg and is now anchored off Pituffik (formerly Thule) in northwest Greenland, where it is waiting for us. It gets crowded with 75 people on board a Hercules, but it goes well, and we are incredibly grateful and happy about the collaboration between the Polar Research Secretariat and the Swedish Armed Forces. During the transit, we were able to prepare all the logistics for the expedition. This is a very important part of the expedition; to test all systems, have the opportunity to fix any problems and to prepare before all researchers come on board and everything is expected to work.

Text: Åsa Lindgren, expedition coordinator.