Polarquest2021 Update: Save the White was a 20-day scientific expedition around the Svalbard archipelago, logging 1300 nautical miles. One of its key missions was “SONARCTIC” – using a NORBIT iWBMS underwater multibeam sonar to study explored areas of the archipelago.

The multibeam sensor was used to conduct two different types of expeditive surveys: a route scanning during transits along the western and north-western area of Spitsbergen and Nordaustlandet, and a systematic survey of an uncharted area northwest of Lady Franklin Fjorden, Nordaustlandet, down to a distance of approximately 300 metres from glacier Søre Franklinbreen front, beyond the 80th parallel.The activity allowed the team to produce new data in partially charted or completely uncharted regions of the archipelago, identifying potential corridors for navigation several points of very shallow waters.

About the expedition

The Polarquest 2021 expedition was carried out aboard Best Explorer, a record-breaking sailboat. It was the second to ever circumnavigate the Arctic in a clockwise direction and the first Italian sailboat to sail the Northwest and Northeast passage.

For the 2021 expedition, Polarquest association partnered with BlanX as part of its Save the Arctic White campaign. Blanx shares our ethos: promoting the value of scientific research and ensuring the protection of the Arctic.

Read the full Expedition update HERE

You can read more about the mission here: https://www.polarquest.org/expedition2021/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PolarquestOrg

More about NORBIT Multibeam products HERE