Icebreaking Research Vessel "Polarstern" To Depart Tromsø For One-Year Polar Expedition

Via gCaptain:

Arctic Expedition to Investigate ‘Epicenter of Climate Change”

RV Polarstern ship is pictured during the farewell ceremony in Tromso, Norway, September 20, 2019. 

REUTERS/Ints Kalnins

For the first time ever, scientists will use a modern research icebreaker to drift in the ice for an entire year, allowing scientists to investigate the Arctic winter from the vicinity of the North Pole.

Scientists from 19 countries are preparing to embark on a year-long expedition to the Arctic, the longest project of its kind, to better understand global climate change.
The icebreaker Polarstern is preparing to set sail from Tromsoe in northern Norway, allowing hundreds of rotating researchers to spend the next year close to the north pole....MORE

It's a pretty big deal and I should take it seriously but I wish the reporter hadn't referred to the 'rotating researchers.'
And I wonder why Polarstern is heading out this year when the even more robust (looking) Russian science platform should be ready by next winter.

From the Barents Observer, December 28, 2018:

The "North Pole" research station will be able to autonomously drift through Arctic waters for 

periods of up to two years at a time. Illustration: admship.ru

Researchers rejoice as construction starts of offshore Arctic station

The new installation will be crucial for our studies of the rapid ongoing changes in the region, Russian Arctic research leaders say....MUCH MORE.

Here's the Alfred Wegener Institut, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research Polarstern page.
And the Polarstern blog. 

And finally, the AWI front page with the MOSAiC story