The Bellingshausen's Captain, Priit Kuusk, told ERR that the crew must be prepared for different challenges on the expedition. "Having seen the ice conditions there, they are getting gradually milder. We have to take into account that we are going into cold conditions and there will certainly be icebergs there. We'll see and take it into account," the captain said.

During the Arctic expedition, a popular science film will be shot, to go with water and soil samples taken for Estonian researchers. "There are many exciting things happening in the Arctic. Firstly, the climate: the Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the world and it will likely become an attractive transit corridor in the near future," said expedition leader Tiit Pruuli.

Plenty food and drinks have been taken on the vessel to withstand the cold nights. Well-known Estonian souvenirs, such as Vana Tallinn liqueur, have also been taken on the Bellingshausen.

The Dutch-built ketch Admiral Bellingshausen will visit Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Spitsbergen mountains and the Norwegian fjords. The trip to the Arctic and back is set to last more than three months with the 12-member crew planning to return to Estonia in September.

The vessel is a 24-meter, Dutch-built ketch, which in summer 2019 set sail for Antarctica to mark the 200th anniversary (in 2020) of the discovery of the Antarctic ice shelf, by Saaremaa native Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, at the time a Captain in the Imperial Russian Navy.

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