FF Kronprins Haakon completes first 50-day Arctic research expedition

The research vessel FF Kronprins Haakon has returned to Longyearbyen after a 50-day expedition as part of the Polhavet 2050 program. This initiative represents Norway’s largest-ever investment in polar research, designed as a decade-long multidisciplinary program running from 2026 to 2035.

Expedition leader and researcher Paul Dodd stated that the mission successfully achieved its primary goals, which included conducting a continuous cross-section through the Nansen and Amundsen basins and across the transpolar drift. This marks the first time such a high-resolution transect has been completed with all measured biogeochemical parameters.

The mission faced challenges due to heavy multi-year ice in western regions, which required route adjustments during the return journey. The data collected will be analyzed to build long-term time series, which are essential for distinguishing natural annual variations from long-term climate change trends in the Arctic.