MURMANSK, August 9 Members of the integrated expedition of the Russian Defense Ministry and the Russian Geographical Society (RGS), who returned to Murmansk from the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, discovered fragments of the ship of the Dutch explorer Willem Barents, on which he made polar voyages, the press service of the Northern Fleet reported.
On Friday, an expeditionary detachment arrived in Murmansk on board the large sea dry cargo transport Yauza of the Northern Fleet, which included specialists from the fleet, the 12th Main Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Defense (GUMO), the Russian Geographical Society, as well as scientists and specialists from a number of institutes and higher educational institutions.
«»The main find was made in the area of Barents Bay, where fragments of the ship on which explorer Willem Barents made his polar voyages were found. We also explored Krestovaya Guba, where the first settlers settled more than 100 years ago,» the press service quotes the words documentary filmmaker, screenwriter, member of the Russian Geographical Society Leonid Kruglov.
He also said that the scientists examined the ancient settlement of the Pomors of the 17th century, then moved to the Olginskoye camp, from where the pilot of the Russian Imperial Air Force, Yan Nagursky, took off, who was looking for traces of past expeditions in these lands, including the travels of the Russian hydrographer Georgy Sedov. The expedition team completely reconstructed Nagursky’s route, filmed and created footage through which you can see the Arctic through the eyes of the legendary polar explorer. The detachment started from Belushya Guba and walked around the Northern Island of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago; in total, the participants made more than 20 landings.
«The temperature values this season were about 12 degrees above normal, which helped to conduct research. This expedition can truly be called comprehensive — it involved teams of glaciologists, seismologists, geologists, hydrobiologists, as well as search groups. All materials will be transferred to institutes for detailed study, which will allow us to draw conclusions and summarize this season in detail,» added the commander of the expeditionary detachment, Northern Fleet officer, Captain Second Rank Sergei Zinchenko.
The work was carried out along the coast of the entire Severny Island. Scientists from the IPE RAS looked for traces of ancient earthquakes here, they conducted georadar research, compiled an orthophotomap of the area, which allowed them to look deep into the earth. This is necessary to predict earthquakes that affect the climate of the entire Arctic region. 
During the expedition, hydrobiologists from VNIIRO also worked, studying the underwater life of the Arctic directly from a boat in the immediate vicinity of the shore. This helped to explore the coastal strip, poorly studied due to its inaccessibility, since it is impossible to approach the shore on a large vessel. During the work, a set of water and zoobenthos samples was collected — this will allow us to draw scientific conclusions and, possibly, key discoveries of this season.
The comprehensive expedition to Novaya Zemlya was a continuation of the research begun in these territories in previous seasons. During them, researchers conducted underwater research of the Kara Sea, studied animals and birds, and conducted search operations.
Joint expeditions of the Russian Geographical Society and the Northern Fleet to study the Arctic archipelagos have been conducted since 2018. Scientists, volunteers and military personnel conduct comprehensive research with grant support from the Russian Geographical Society. In 2021, the project won the RGS award as the best long-term expedition in Russia.