The polar floating research station "Tara" set sail from the port of Lorient in western France, amid cheers from hundreds of well-wishers on the quay, with French Minister of Maritime Affairs Catherine Chabot in attendance, marking the start of an exceptional scientific mission targeting the harshest natural environments on Earth.

The floating station, designed in the shape of an igloo atop a massive buoy, is built to withstand sea ice pressure and temperatures dropping to minus 52 degrees Celsius, allowing it to drift in a controlled manner with floating ice masses for months at a time.

Romain Troublé, Executive Director of the Tara Ocean Foundation, said: "The Arctic Ocean has been little studied, yet it is undergoing significant changes, passing through a radical transformation," adding, "We cannot understand this environment if we only spend two months a year there."

About 30 research centers from 12 countries are taking part in the expedition, including Germany, Canada, Spain, the United States, Switzerland, and Japan, although the ship was built in France.

Starting from mid-August, the station will move eastward along the Russian coast, with the help of an icebreaker clearing the way. It is scheduled to drift after being trapped by dense ice floes in early September at a rate of 10 kilometers per day, eventually reaching the Fram Strait between Greenland and the Svalbard Islands by the end of 2027.

The ship will accommodate 12 people during the winter, including 6 scientists, rising to 18 people in summer. Scientists will collect more than 10,000 samples of water, atmosphere, and sea ice, using a special opening in the ship's hull and an integrated system of scientific instruments.

Ten similar missions are planned between 2026 and 2045, at a rate of one mission every two years, in an unprecedented scientific effort to understand accelerating climate changes in the Arctic.