On Board Polar Front

Photo of the Polar Front heading up the fiord to approach Longyearbyen harbo — Polar Front heading up the fiord to approach Longyearbyen harbour

It was a day or so before leaving Edinburgh for Oslo that I received an email advising there was a problem with the ship for our Arctic expedition. It had needed to be towed back to Norway, was under repair and there was uncertainty as when it would be able to return to Svalbard. Not quite the news I had expected after months of planning and significant expense but I resigned myself to it being something outside my control and thus undeserving of worry. I would be seeing new and exciting things anyway.

It was thus with a sense of relief and excitement that we had seen the Polar Front heading up Isfjord only 24 hours later than originally scheduled. As I have already alluded to, I really appreciated the extra day in Longyearbyen as I had seen far more than I would have if only there for the single day as originally planned.

Polar Front at the wharf in Longyearbyen

Boarding was quick and efficient and we were warmly welcomed by the captain and French crew who were, I think, as relieved to be in Longyearbyen as we were to see them.

The Polar Front was originally designed to be a weather ship and spent many years anchored in the North Sea with a crew launching weather balloons and sending back data for weather forecasting. She has been refitted as an expedition ship and is a lovely strong vessel with a spacious aft deck to work from. She has recently been retrofitted from diesel to diesel electric with 2 large electric motors driving the propellor and being fed by 3 diesel generators (one running for cruising, two if pushing at top speed and one as a backup). The end result is a very quiet, smooth and economical vessel which is a delight to travel on and work from.

Gathered on the spacious aft deck just after boarding

We were welcomed aboard with fresh baking and warm drinks and allocated to our cabins. This was followed by a safety briefing and demonstration on how to don an immersion suit which would provide a very brief extension to our lives if abandoning ship in Arctic waters.

Cadet who drew the short straw demonstrating immersion suit in a warm saloon

This was followed by a toast to a successful expedition and we were then on deck excited to be departing on our long awaited adventure.

A cruise ship a little larger than our vessel

As Longyearbyen receded into the distance it finally felt as though we were on the threshold of the anticipated Arctic wilderness and our hunt for Polar bear and other polar wildlife. From now on glimpses of other human influence would be distant and infrequent.