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
Old Pulteney Row To The Pole into the bay by storms. At this point the boat's unique design as a sledge-boat enabled them to haul the boat from the water and manually pull it across the ice on the final 2–3 miles to the Pole. This boat-hauling exercise took the crew 10 hours to complete. They arrived at the Pole position on 26 August 2011. Jock Wishart announced the success saying "There is now a row boat at the '96 Mag. North Pole". On BBC Radio 4's Today programme as "an incredible journey that will go down in the history books. It's a true global first