Photo: Transglobal Car Expedition via Facebook
After a successful expedition in the Arctic, an Arctic Trucks AT44 F-150 was lost through the surface in an area of rapidly shifting ice. A massive recovery operation was started to extract the truck from the water and avoid polluting the fragile arctic ecosystem.
If you’re familiar with Arctic Trucks’ work, you know they modify some of the toughest pickup trucks on the planet. The AT44 F-150 is based on the Ford F-150 platform and features extensive modifications to withstand the freezing cold of the northernmost territories. Armed with Arctic Trucks vehicles, the Transglobal Car Expedition completed the world’s first successful overland wheeled crossing from the continental shelf of Canada to the high Arctic (Yellowknife NT to Resolute NU) in March 2022.
The team was in the process of returning the vehicles to Cambridge Bay on March 23 when one of the vehicles broke the ice and sank in 26-foot-deep water. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but the fragile ecosystem was now in danger. The team took full responsibility for the incident and pledged to recover the truck. The plan has been made, and the operation is now underway.
The operation started on Thursday with the recovery team arriving in Gjoa Haven with 600 kg of equipment. This is the closest point accessible by plane, some 185 miles (300 km) from the sunken vehicle. The plan is for highly experienced Arctic divers to break through the ice cover and go deep underwater to attach airbags to the truck. The F-150 will float to the surface to be slung to an Airbus Super Puma heavy-lift helicopter. This will fly to Gjoa Haven, the nearest town with a port, from where the truck will be shipped to Montreal.
“This is a massively complex operation in a very remote area of a precious landscape,” said Emil Grimsson, head of Arctic Trucks Polar of Iceland, who will monitor the operation from Gjoa Haven. “Months of planning have gone into this effort, and the Transglobal Car Expedition has committed all the resources necessary to succeed and ensure the team’s safety during this process.”
We will watch this operation closely, especially as everything will be documented on film. According to the timeline assumed by the Transglobal Car Expedition team, the diving operations should begin on Saturday, one day later than planned. On Sunday, the helicopter should land in Gjoa Haven with the underslung truck if anything goes as planned. Another day will be needed to do a thorough cleaning of the area.
The team was in the process of returning the vehicles to Cambridge Bay on March 23 when one of the vehicles broke the ice and sank in 26-foot-deep water. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but the fragile ecosystem was now in danger. The team took full responsibility for the incident and pledged to recover the truck. The plan has been made, and the operation is now underway.
The operation started on Thursday with the recovery team arriving in Gjoa Haven with 600 kg of equipment. This is the closest point accessible by plane, some 185 miles (300 km) from the sunken vehicle. The plan is for highly experienced Arctic divers to break through the ice cover and go deep underwater to attach airbags to the truck. The F-150 will float to the surface to be slung to an Airbus Super Puma heavy-lift helicopter. This will fly to Gjoa Haven, the nearest town with a port, from where the truck will be shipped to Montreal.
“This is a massively complex operation in a very remote area of a precious landscape,” said Emil Grimsson, head of Arctic Trucks Polar of Iceland, who will monitor the operation from Gjoa Haven. “Months of planning have gone into this effort, and the Transglobal Car Expedition has committed all the resources necessary to succeed and ensure the team’s safety during this process.”
We will watch this operation closely, especially as everything will be documented on film. According to the timeline assumed by the Transglobal Car Expedition team, the diving operations should begin on Saturday, one day later than planned. On Sunday, the helicopter should land in Gjoa Haven with the underslung truck if anything goes as planned. Another day will be needed to do a thorough cleaning of the area.
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