Central Arctic Ocean, 2025-08-25

After reaching the North Pole, we continued south along the Alpha Ridge in the Amerasian Basin. The weather has brought fog, strong winds and snowfall. Oden has most often been leading, breaking the ice, which has allowed the Canadian icebreaker Louis S. St-Laurent to carry out its measurements in the channel opened behind us.

Although we still have daylight around the clock, there is now a touch of autumn in the air up here. The weather has been rough, but we have nevertheless managed to complete several ice stations. During these, researchers fly out by helicopter from Oden to conduct measurements on ice floes, while the ship continues to navigate forward. We have also stopped both vessels to carry out sediment coring from Oden’s aft deck. These cores, retrieved from several thousand metres depth, provide important clues about the history of the Earth and the development of the Arctic over millions of years.

On board, the atmosphere remains high-spirited. The onboard research school runs an ambitious programme with lectures, workshops and practical training in safety during different types of sampling. The students are also part of various research groups and actively contribute to important measurements in their respective fields. In their free time, social activities such as table tennis, movie night and quizzes.

We will continue south for a few more days, before turning north again.

Text: Katarina Gårdfeldt, Expedition Coordinator