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On the 16th, ARKTIKA met severe ice fields with mighty pressure 
ridges. The level ice between the walls was up to 4 m thick or more 
and the ice-breaker's capacity of 75,000 hp was needed only too 
well. The speed was then reduced to 1 knot or sometimes less. 
Thick fog at times made the ice navigation more difficult - then 
the helicopters could not leave the ship. Thanks to an advanced 
satellite navigation system presumably with 6 satellites in polar 
orbits and fixes available with gradually shorter intervals the 
closer the navigator is the Pole, the ship's position was obtained 
with very high precision, good perhaps to 1-5 m. 
In fog-free areas the position generally was determined astronomi- 
cally. 
The nuclear-powered ice-breaker forged ahead, however, inexorably, 
and early in the morning on the 17th of August the ARKTIKA reached 
the geographical North Pole - an outstanding achievement of the 
history of the world, and a geographical record of extraordinary 
importance for the future (see Fig 10). 
ARKTIKA reached the Pole seven days ahead of schedule, and she 
returned to Murmansk on the 22nd of August after having covered 
3.852 nautical miles, 1.609 of them through ice covered areas, 
and 1.200 of those in multi-year, ridged ice, and level ice up to 
4 m thick or more. 
The aim of the enterprise was, as mentioned above, a scientific 
and practical experimental voyage. The results of the successful 
voyage and assembled data will be studied and used as a basis for 
reviewing the technological policies in merchant marine shipbuil- 
ding, for example container ships of the reinforced ice-breaker 
class, and a new generation of more powerful ice-breakers. Further, 
new routes from the Barents Sea to the Chukotka Peninsula and the 
Pacific Ocean through higher latitudes will be opened, 1,000 miles 
shorter than the usual route along the country's Arctic coast.