North Pole Since 2002, the Russians have also annually established a base, Barneo, close to the Pole. This operates for a few weeks during early spring. Studies in the 2000s predicted that the North Pole may become seasonally ice-free because of Arctic ice shrinkage, with timescales varying from 2016 to the late 21st century or later. The sea depth at the North Pole has been measured at by the Russian Mir submersible in 2007 and at 4,087 m (13,410 ft) by USS "Nautilus" in 1958. The nearest land is usually said to be Kaffeklubben Island, off the northern coast of Greenland about
North Pole trek from Ellesmere Island in Canada, a distance of 800 km. On 7 September 1991 the German research vessel "Polarstern" and the Swedish icebreaker "Oden" reached the North Pole as the first conventional powered vessels. Both scientific parties and crew took oceanographic and geological samples and had a common tug of war and a football game on an ice floe. Polarstern again reached the pole exactly 10 years later with the "Healy". In 1998, 1999, and 2000 Lada Niva Marshs (special very large wheeled versions made by BRONTO, Lada/Vaz's experimental product division) were driven to the North Pole. The 1998