Russian explorers on Wednesday announced a new expedition to the Arctic for later in the year to boost Russia's presence there following a flag-laying stunt on the seabed under the North Pole. Russia has staked its position at the heart of a scramble with the United States, Canada and Norway for the Arctic's mineral wealth by sending a submersible to plant a Russian flag on the ocean floor under the ice cap last week.

Moscow says it has a claim to a large chunk of the seabed right up the North Pole because it is an extension of Russia's continental shelf. But other Arctic powers are sceptical. "Russia will strengthen its position in the Arctic," expedition leader Artur Chilingarov, a bearded 67-year-old polar adventurer, told reporters, Itar-Tass news agency reported.

A deputy speaker of parliament and senior member of the biggest pro-Kremlin party, Chilingarov said a new Arctic mission would take place in November, though he gave few details. Chilingarov was aboard one of the submersibles which laid a rust-proof Russian tricolour at a depth of 4,261 metres (13,980 feet) on the seabed.

President Vladimir Putin congratulated the expedition members at an audience with Chilingarov on Tuesday but struck a cautious tone saying Russia needed to discuss the claims with other countries and international organisations. Five states with territory inside the Arctic Circle -- Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia and the United States -- have a 320 km (200 mile) economic zone around the north of their coastline.

As the ice cap shrinks because of higher world temperatures, the mineral wealth of the Arctic seabed will become easier to exploit, driving the dreams of energy hungry powers and the fears of environmentalists. Russian geologists think the Arctic seabed contains at least 9 to 10 billion tonnes of fuel equivalent, or about the same as Russia's entire oil reserves, as well as scores of metals.

Russia bases its claim to a bigger slice of the Arctic seabed on findings by Russian geologists who believe the Lomonosov ridge, an 1,800 km (1,125 miles) underwater mountain range that extends under the Arctic, is an extension of Russia. Chilingarov said the new expedition, accompanied by an atomic ice breaker, would probe the ridge with an unmanned submersible.
(Planet Ark, 09/08/2007)