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| We kept an eye on the screen as we drew near the Arctic Pole of Inaccessibility |
After the Geographic North Pole and the Magnetic North Pole, the Arctic Pole of Inaccessibility is the 3rd Arctic Pole. Until today it had yet to be reached so it is the last significant world first in polar exploration. It was first contemplated in 1909 by Russian polar pioneer Alexandr Kolchak. He defined it as the furthest point from any land in the middle of the Arctic Ocean. He concluded that as this point was permanently covered by the ice fields of the Arctic ice pack it was "Inaccessible to Navigation". In 1920 Canadian explorer Vlihjalmur Stefansson developed 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, Collinson. A distance of 500 miles being the limit of man and dog hauling a sled and returning. As it is further from land than the North Pole, the Arctic Pole of Inaccessibility (API) is said to be harder to reach. In 2013 the location of the API was recalculated using satellite data, in position 85° 48' N, 176°09'E.
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 one for many of us and the Captains are ecstatic (we have two ice Captains). For those who don’t know, the point 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. There the Pole of Inaccessibility is on land not far from the now defunct Soviet research station in Kemp Land, Antarctica.
The Geographic North Pole was first reached by Amundsen in 1926, Magnetic South Pole by 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.
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| Preparations for the celebration underway |
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| The champagne and other delicious drinks flowed freely |
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| And warm foie gras but of course it's a special occasion |
The celebrations went on for quite some time but eventually we began navigating to the Magnetic North Pole! What an adventure ……
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