6 October - 12 October 2008 (Reykjavik – Bremerhaven)

On Monday morning, the ship passed the Vilkitsky Strait without any problems. This narrow sea way is located between the Russian mainland and a group of northern islands. Of the entire Northeast Passage, this was the most critical location. During most of the previous years, this strait was covered by thick sea ice. Ships could only sail through this strait with the support of atomic icebreakers, which operated in the area. But like last year, the strait was ice-free and no additional icebreaker support was needed.

However, we left the region just in time. We sailed more than an entire day through an ocean which was completely covered by new ice. Furthermore, satellite images from Wednesday showed that within a few days large amounts of sea ice had drifted into the Vilkitsky Strait, which would have made our passage difficult.

There was little to report while the ship headed with constant velocity towards Bremerhaven. All the gear was disassembled and packed, the data were saved and the labs were cleaned for the follow-up group of scientists in November. Thus, it will be the last weekly report since we will arrive in Bremerhaven next Friday (17. October). Today, we are just of the Norwegian coast. Because of the strong swell of up to 5 m, the ship moves heavily up and down.

In summary, our expedition has been extremely successful. Despite of some problems at the beginning of our journey, all experiments were satisfactorily performed in the planned areas. With a few exceptions, all objectives of the scientific groups could be accomplished. An important factor for this success was the thin sea ice and large ice-free areas, which would normally be covered by thick sea ice.

At this point we would like to thank Captain Schwarze and his crew for the perfect cooperation and the excellent support during our expedition.

Wilfried Jokat
October 12, 2008
68°42`N 010°34’E, 8.0°C