This weekend, the 13,000-ton Oden sets sail from Luleå harbor for a research expedition organized by the state Polar Research Secretariat. The aim of the expedition is to study the start of the melt season in the Arctic and the Arctic Ocean, something that has not been done since the 1990s. The expedition will consist of 39 researchers from universities in ten countries. The ship is expected to return to Sweden at the end of June. According to Amund Lindberg, business area manager for winter shipping at the Swedish Maritime Administration, Oden is the only icebreaker in their fleet that is suitable for polar voyages due to its weight and hull built with five centimeters of high-density steel. This isn’t Oden’s first voyage to the polar regions, as it has been to Antarctica for five seasons and visited the North Pole for the tenth time in August 2021. The Swedish Maritime Administration is responsible for providing the icebreaker with crew for the expedition, which is organized by the state agency Polar Research Secretariat.
This weekend, the 13,000-ton Oden leaves Luleå harbor to take part in an expedition via the state Polar Research Secretariat, where the icebreaker will serve as a research platform.
The expedition runs from the end of April, with the aim of studying the start of the melt season in the Arctic and the Arctic Ocean in a way that, according to the Swedish Maritime Administration, has not been carried out since the 1990s. The expedition includes 39 researchers, linked to universities in ten countries.
Everything works as it should the ship should be back in Sweden at the end of June.
– We go up with Oden quite early because the researchers want to get a better picture of the initial phase of the ice melting. She will mobilize in Helsingborg and will leave that port at the end of April to hopefully be back by midsummer, says Amund Lindberg, business area manager for winter shipping at the Swedish Maritime Administration.
It is not the first time Odin is sent to polar regions. For five seasons, the icebreaker has been used in Antarctica and in August 2021 Oden visited the North Pole for the tenth time. According to Amund Lindberg, Oden is the only one of the Swedish Maritime Administration’s icebreakers that is suitable for polar voyages.
– The other icebreakers don’t bother in the Arctic. They can go to Svalbard but not to the North Pole. The Oden weighs much more and the hull has five centimeters of high-density steel that can handle the thick ice, he says.
The expedition is organized by the state agency Polar Research Secretariat, while the Swedish Maritime Administration lends and is responsible for the icebreaker with crew.