North Pole teams on the ice - no rescue agreement with Borneo
Apr 2, 2005 17: 51 EST
Previously published Mar 14, 2005 07: 39 EST
The teams have finally hit the ice, and we are awaiting the first reports and Argos data to confirm their starting point. But the logistical scandal continues, as it turned out in a recent Moscow meeting that Cerpolex holds no agreement with the Borneo Base for monitoring and rescue of the expeditions.
All star polar team and politicians worried
The big meeting was held in Moscow on Thursday last week. Power people and polar veterans met to discuss the delays and how to put an end to the situation once and for all in the future.
The Deputy Speaker of the Russian Parliament, President of Association of Polarniks of Russia Dr. Arthur Chilingarov called for a meeting on March 10 to discuss the situation around the North Pole programs 2005.
Invited were leading Russian operators for the North Pole program, and heavy duty polar adventurers such as Dmitry Sparo, Vladimir Chukov, Michail Malakhov, Sergey Insarov and Victor Boyarsky. (Check AdventureStats for the credentials of this all star list).
There were also representatives of General Staff of Ministry of Defense, FSS, Border Guard, Department of Tourism of Russia, and the Management of Center Polius. All in all 26 people discussed the situation of permits and the preparations to build the Borneo Base.
The Cerpolex factor
It was stated that none of the agencies working the commercial North Pole market got a full set of permits in time this year, and this is what caused the delays in Khatanga.
The Border Guard Administration and FSS of Russia confirmed that Cerpolex in particular not only lacked a full set of permits for their expeditions leaving Arcticheskiy, but also did not meet the proper procedure and all formalities required to cross the Russian border.
No rescue arrangement
It was confirmed that only Center Polius is in charge of building the Borneo Base in 2005. In connection with that it was announced that Cerpolex did not conclude any agreements with Center Polius concerning the use of Borneo for monitoring and rescue (if necessary) of the expeditions. This could potentially become hazardous for the teams who have started out from Arcticheskiy.
To avoid this situation in the season of 2006, Dr. Chilingarov ordered all permitting organizations to develop strict rules within the next month for all North Pole logistics operators; primarily focusing on the operators obtaining all the permits requested by Russian law.
Already last year teams outfitted by Cerpolex were not provided enough time to complete their expeditions. In addition, Cerpolex were heavily criticized for their lack of initiative in a search of a vanished polar trekker.
Image ExplorersWeb files.
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