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| The Arctic is believed to hold vast untapped reserves of oil and gas |
Canada has launched a mission to map
the Arctic seabed to support its bid to extend its territory up to the North
Pole.
The six-week mission comes in the face of competing claims from other
countries, including Russia.
Two ice-breakers are setting out from Newfoundland to collect data from an
undersea ridge that starts near Ellesmere Island and runs to the Pole.
The region is believed to include large oil and gas reserves.
Last December Canada filed an application with the UN seeking to vastly
expand its Atlantic sea boundary.
Russia and Denmark have also made competing claims on a vast area of Arctic
seabed around the Lomonosov Ridge.
All three countries are seeking scientific proof that the ridge is an
underwater extension of their continental shelf.
The area is estimated to hold 13% of the world's undiscovered oil and up to
30% of its hidden natural gas reserves.
A Canadian
government statement said the first icebreaker had left St John's,
Newfoundland, on Friday and the second would depart on Saturday.
