Russia Seeks to Claim Arctic Seabed

Associated Press (excerpt) ^ | July 27, 2007 | Douglas Birch

[HAL9000]

Excerpt -

MOSCOW - Russian scientists hope to plunge to the seabed beneath the North Pole in the next few days in a miniature sub and plant a titanium capsule containing the Russian flag, symbolically claiming much of the Arctic Ocean floor for Moscow.

Thick sea ice threatens to thwart the expedition, an engineer with Russia's premier polar research institute said Friday. But if the effort succeeds, it could mark the official start of a very cold diplomatic war for the Arctic, one of the Earth's last energy frontiers.

A convoy consisting of a research vessel and an icebreaker, and led by Russia's most famous polar explorer, set sail Tuesday from Murmansk toward the North Pole - shadowed, according to Russian TV reports, by at least one Norwegian military aircraft.

~ snip ~

[EQAndyBuzz]

“America discovered the North Pole. Bush will probably give it to China or Mexicans.”

Or maybe Bush will give it to the gays and the abortionists. /sarcasm

[nw_arizona_granny]

Ping.