Northern Fleet hydrographic vessels will carry out three Arctic expeditions this year. This is what the Northern Fleet spokesman Vadim Serga told TASS News Agency.

"The crews of the hydrographic vessels Vizir, Gorizont and Senezh have begun preparing for new expeditions to the Arctic latitudes", he said. "Three expeditions to the Franz-Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya archipelagos will take place in 2017.The aim of the expeditions is to study the Arctic region."

The expeditions will take place from August to October, when the ice cover is minimal. Members of the fourth North Fleet Arctic Oceanographic Expedition will be on board all of the ships.

"As well as studying the Arctic archipelagos and surrounding region, the hydrographers will take measurements at the mouths and on the beds of the Siberian rivers. This will be to clarify possibilities for shipping. They will also take part in the traditional Arctic voyage that various North Fleet vessels make to the Novosibirsk Islands", Serga said.

During last year's expeditions, North Fleet hydrographers discovered two new islands, located near the Roze Glacier near the Novaya Zemlya coast. The bigger island is around 400 meters long.