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| We kept an eye on this screen as we drew near the Arctic Pole of Inaccessibility |
On this expedition, we were in search of the Geographic North Pole and the Magnetic North Pole,but there was another pole which the captain sought - the Arctic Pole of Inaccessibility (API). This was yet to be reached. The location of this place, the 'Arctic Pole of Inaccessibility', was first contemplated in 1909 by Russian polar pioneer Alexandr Kolchak. He defined it as the furthest point from any land in the Arctic Ocean. He concluded that, because the true Arctic Pole of Inaccessibility was permanently covered by the ice fields of the Arctic ice pack, it was "Inaccessible to Navigation". In 1920 Canadian explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson redeveloped the concept as the centre (Pole) of the "Area of Comparative Inaccessibility" defined as the area calculated from the furthest points reached by ships of the polar explorers including Peary, Nansen and Collinson. As this third pole is further from land than the North Pole, the Arctic Pole of Inaccessibility (API) is said to be harder to reach (at the time 500 miles was the limit of man and dog hauling a sled and returning). In 2013, the location of the API was recalculated using satellite data and located at 85° 48' N, 176°09'E. But no one had reached it .... until today!
We did it! Today we reached that point - the Arctic Pole of Inaccessibility - by ship. 85 48’ N, 176 09’ E. No vessel has been to the true API before us so today is a very exciting day for many of us and the Captains are ecstatic (we have two captains on board). For those who don’t know, the pole of inaccessibility in an ocean is the furthest point from land, and on land it is the furthest point from the sea. (Australia's pole of inaccessibility is located in the Northern Territory, about 160km WNW of Alice Springs and about 900km from the nearest coastline.) I first heard the term when we were in Antarctica 18 months ago. In Antarctica, the Pole of Inaccessibility is on land not far from the now defunct Soviet research station in Kemp Land, Antarctica.
As a matter of interest, the Geographic North Pole was first reached by Roald Amundsen in 1926, he was also the first person to reach the South Pole in 1911. James Clark Ross was first to reach the Magnetic North Pole in 1831, and the Magnetic South Pole was first reached by Sir Douglas Mawson on Shackleton’s British Antarctic Expedition in 1909. And now Captains Garcia and Marchesseau and Ponant’s Le Commandant Charcot have now been listed side by side on this exclusive list of firsts for reaching the Arctic Pole of Inaccessibility. Ponant’s Le Commandant Charcot has done something no ship of any kind has ever done before. In the 21st century, it is hard to imagine that there’s a place on earth humans have never been ..... but now we have been there! Much celebrating errupted.
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| Preparations for the celebration underway |
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| Some delightful delicacy being prepared to accompany our champers |
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| The champagne and other delicious drinks flowed freely |
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| We were there on the spot with glasses raised |
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| And warm foie gras? But of course - it is a special occasion |
The celebrations went on for quite some time but eventually we began navigating on towards the Magnetic North Pole! What a thrilling adventure ……
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