By the end of 2015, the Northern Hydrographic Expedition will be restored in Russia, TASS reports, citing Igor Naumov, Head of the Northern Fleet Hydrographic Service. The expedition is the successor to the legendary Arctic Ocean Hydrographic Expedition.

"In 2013, following the journey of the Gorizont hydrographic ship to Franz Josef Land, the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy addressed the Defense Minister with a petition to restore the expedition, which was cut short during the 2009-2011 reforms. Recently, the officials decided to renew the expedition," Naumov announced.

Boris Vilkitsky organized the Arctic Ocean Hydrographic Expedition in 1910-1915 to map out and explore the Northern Sea Route. In 1913, the expedition discovered the Emperor Nicholas II Land (Zemlya Imperatora Nikolaya II) archipelago (now Severnaya Zemlya), the last significant geographic discovery on Earth. The North Hydrographic Expedition took over the expedition's work until it was dissolved during the Russian Navy structural reform in 2009-2011.