Russian Arctic expedition cost nearly four million dollars

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2007

MOSCOW (AFP) — A Russian expedition to the Arctic, which ended with the national flag being planted in the seabed beneath the North Pole, cost nearly four million dollars (2.8 million euros), the organisers said Saturday.

The expedition "cost nearly 100 million roubles," Ivan Frolov, head of the Russian Institute for Arctic and Antartic Research told the Moscow Echo radio station.

He said the expedition was partly financed by Swedish businessman Frederik Paulsen and lasted 90 days.

The six explorers reached the seabed in a mini-submarine at a depth of 4,261 meters (13,980 feet), to carry out scientific tests and leave a Russian flag.

Billed as the first successful expedition to reach the ocean floor under the North Pole, the explorers hope to...