Sovetskiy Soyuz played a major role in the success of the ARCTIC CORING EXPEDITION (ACEX) in August and September of 2004. The expedition obtained deep cores from the Lomonosov Ridge under challenging conditions. In the aerial photo at right (click for a larger view), all three vessels of the expedition can be seen working together on this historic achievement. The sea ice is moving from top to bottom of the image. Sovetskiy Soyuz, near the top, is doing heavy icebreaking, splitting up the large floes. In the middle, the Swedish icebreaker Oden further disintegrates the ice and pushes larger pieces aside. This allows the drilling vessel, Vidar Viking, at bottom, to remain on station and drill, in the midst of heavy moving ice.

ACEX is a project of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP)