The Greeks of the 4th century BC the airship Norge, from the Spit- they were aware of the existen- zbergen island through the North ce of the Arctic regions, which at Pole to Alaska, covering about that time were inhabited by Inu- 5460 km. In 1928 Umberto No- it and American Indians. At the bile again flew over the pole with beginning of the ninth century the airship Italia, which on the AD some Irish monks founded a way back came crashing; the se- small colony in Iceland. The Vi- arch and rescue of the survivors kings, coming from Scandinavia, were dramatic and difficult and MELORIA arrived shortly thereafter in the led, among other things, to the same century. Around 982 the Vi- disappearance of Amundsen, who king leader Erik the Red sighted generously engaged in the relief and gave the name to Greenland, work. We arrive at the end of the discovering it green and welco- seventies where the traditional ming, in fact Grønland in Danish exploration of the Arctic territori- Experimentation supported the means “Green Earth”. Over the es has been replaced by scientific High North campaign of the Navy next four centuries the Vikings research activities. The region is and the Hydrographic Institute, reached the Canadian Arctic. The now easily accessible, thanks to penetrating the seas of the Arctic Arctic explorations that followed more effective technical means for the first time after the histori- the Viking ones were solicited by of the past (planes, submarines, cal expeditions of Umberto Nobile the need of Europeans to look for icebreakers) and new methods of in 1928. The research activities alternative sea routes to the East: land transport, while surveys are of the Italian Navy Ship Alliance the passage of North-East along mostly carried out by satellites. began in Reykjavik on 9 July and the coasts of North Asia, and the In 1997 the CNR at Ny-Ålesund, ended in Tromso on 29 July 2017, passage of North-West , through in the Svalbard islands inaugura- covering 650 km2 of unexplored the Arctic islands of North Ame- tes the scientific base “Dirigibile areas for collecting data to the rica. Many were the explorers, Italia”. The pollution of the indu- atmosphere, the masses of water but only a few Italians include: strialized world is progressively and the seabed of the Arctic. Giovanni Caboto, an Italian navi- reaching and damaging even the One of the last Italian explorers, gator (at the service of the En- distant territories of the Arctic, as Prof. Simone Orlandini was the glish), at the end of the 16th in well as Antarctica. The discovery protagonist from 25 August to the search for the North-West in 1987 of the ‘hole’ in the ozone the beginning of September, on a passage, which was not lucky, as layer above the Arctic testifies. scientific mission and research in well as many others they follo- The Council National Research, the artide called “POLAR4”. wed in the footsteps. In May 1926 Enea, the National Institute of Amundsen, Lincoln Ellsworth and Oceanography and Experimen- our Umberto Nobile completed a tal Geophysics, the NATO Cen- flight of over seventy hours on ter for Maritime Research and Bollettino dei Marinai - 209/2018 51 WHAT IS POLAR 4 ice. In the largest sea-and-air re- the remains of the airship Italy. La spedizione Polar 4 è un proThe scue mission in history, eight of The mission will be exactly 90 Polar 4 expedition is a project of them were saved seven weeks years after the collapse of the ai- the World Arctic Fund. later. After almost nine decades, rship in 1928, where 8 members The aim of Polar 4 is to explo- our team on this boat will pioneer of the Italian airship crew lost re the Arctic with sailing boats, the search for the wreck of this their lives on their way back from spearheaded by Capt. Simone historic aircraft. the North Pole, most of the re- Orlandini, mains were never found, and the POLAR SOUTH 4 SCIENCE and a group of professional arctic survivors lived for 49 days on the The science team is composed of explorers and researchers plus a Arctic glaciers before being re- of arctic researchers who focus special media crew. Each team scued. A total of 19 people died on gathering scientific data about has its own mission to fulfill: in the crash and looking for the the life and condition Polar North 4 Discovery, Polar wreck. of the unexplored part of the Arc- South 4 Science, Polar East for tic. Taking samples for the stu- The crew will be divided into two Media and Polar West for map- dy of geophysical properties of ships, one of which will be an ice- ping. the polar cap and observation of breaker, will open the track so The expedition will be 4 weeks bioacoustics in this area will also that the glacier does not prevent long. be conducted under this team. the crew from carrying out their The idea for this project was It will cover the effects of man- mission. While the other ship (a born, when Orlandini and a team made pollution on the North and schooner named Meloria) will sail of filmmakers went to the Arctic how it will make an impact on our sailing. Both ships will be equip- in May 2014 to shoot a documen- lives. The beneficiary of this mis- ped with nautical and technical tary on climate change, directed sion is us, the inhabitants of pla- equipment in addition to the Ed- by Teresina Moscatiello. The film net Earth, as it seeks to uncover geTech sonar scanner, which will documented the lives of resear- critical information that we need be used to detect aluminum even chers living in the northernmost to know in relation to global war- at the bottom of the sea, to loca- permanent settlement in the ming and climate change. te the airship. world: the village of Ny-Ålesund in Svalbard, 78°56´N - 011°55´E. POLAR EAST 4 MEDIA The EdgeTech scanner will allow This former mining site has been The media team is responsible for the crew to identify the exact turned into the largest laborato- recording and then broadcasting position of the airship. After the ry in the Arctic and has become the daily activities of the explo- remains have been discovered, a a paradise for polar researchers rers. This team will make a do- special underwater camera will be from all over the world. cumentary about the expedition, used to photograph the remains Kim Holmén, International Direc- a 360° virtual reality project and as the remains are found. tor of the Norwegian Polar Insti- will stream daily short footage of The AISE will look for the struc- tute (NPI), said in an interview, the important events ture of the airship that flew away. that the most important thing Since the efforts to find the survi- that occur. It will also be frequen- we need to do is to “spread the vors were abandoned in 1928, no ted by the VIP´s, who support word to the world” concerning one has ever sought the remains this expedition and advocates for the climate change in the Arctic of the airship at least until now. climate change. and the problems arising from it. Kim Holmén inspired Orlandini POLAR WEAST 4 MAPPING COMUNICAZIONI HF and the filmmaking team to cre- The expedition members in the The communications on this ex- ate this project in supporting the mapping team will be cartogra- pedition will be fundamental, as researchers to initially phers, who aim to update the in addition to letting the entire expand their knowledge of the map of Arctic world of the radio know the ac- Arctic by exploring its unknown to give the world a vivid and ac- tivity we are going to carry out, areas and on the other hand to curate picture of it. The future of we will be constantly in contact spread that knowledge to the pu- arctic navigation is in their hands with various Italian radio opera- blic. as they bring the map tors who will support us during of this fascinating region to the the outward and return journey. POLAR NORTH 4 DISCOVERY next level. We will establish radio contacts in On the discovery team, a group short waves and we will have the of historians and salvors are on AISE 2018 opportunity to make ourselves the mission to find a piece of hi- AISE 2018 is a continuation of heard all over the globe suppor- story. the Polar 4 and consists of the ted by the Radio Amateurs of the Research Shipment of the Italian In 1928, the airship Italia, com- ARMI, an association that counts Airship which will start in August manded by Umberto Nobile, one a thousand amateur radio opera- 2018 and last for 4-5 weeks. of the founding fathers of Arctic tors in Italy and in the world. About 30 members (researchers, exploration, crashed on the way historians and media) of the crew back from the North Pole, killing will travel north of the Svalbard part of the crew and leaving the islands on two boats to look for survivors stranded on the pack Bollettino dei Marinai - 209/2018 52 This is similar to what was done The World Arctic Fund set its first world record when it will perform in 1928 between the ship of the world record in 2017 when the a 360-degree mapping of the Royal Navy “Citta di Milano” IGJ Polar4 crew mapped up to 80 de- Svalbard region over 80 degrees.