Abstract

After having successfully sailed the Northwest Passage in 2012 with the first fully Italian expedition, Best Explorer, a 51 feet steel recreational sailing yacht, will complete the circumnavigation of the Arctic Ocean in 2019, from Japan to Norway, sailing north of the Eurasian continent (Siberia), from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean. The Northern Arctic Sea Route – NASR is an extremely long and challenging route: 8,500 nautical miles, most of which (4,500 n.m.) in the Arctic Ocean. The Team, on board and on shore, is composed by all members of “Arctic Sail Expeditions – ITALIA” association and Giovanni (Nanni) Acquarone, the skipper and expedition leader, is one of Italian guys having had an extensive knowledge of the Arctic, having sailed the most difficult sea courses of the world, even more in the legendary Northwest Passage. This is a project that will bring Italy’s name to the attention of the public once more and, if properly supported and advertised, will be an incentive for many to valiantly start other similarly outstanding feats.

Cultural and scientific projects will be carried out in parallel with the expedition, such as meetings with local communities or experimentation of satellite technologies (positioning such as GPS and Galileo, telecommunications and Earth observation), depending on partners or sponsor requirements.

Keywords: NASR; Maritime navigation; Arctic; GNSS; GPS; Galileo; EGNOS; QZSS; Satellite communications; Iridium; Globastar; Earth observation; Cosmo skymed