A Russian expedition in which two parliament members will descend to the seabed at the North Pole resumed its course on Thursday after technical problems, an expedition spokeswoman said.
A problem with the propeller engine of the expedition's flagship, the Akademik Fyodorov, was resolved by the engineers on board, a spokeswoman at the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute in Saint Petersburg told AFP.
The Akademik Fyodorov and the nuclear-powered ice-breaker Rossiya were "proceeding to the North Pole" and had reached the Franz Josef Archipelago, two thirds of the way from the Russian mainland to the pole, she said.
Two parliamentarians, Artur Chilingarov and Vladimir Gruzdev, are to descend some 4,200 metres (14,000 feet) to the seabed under the pole in a Mir mini-submarine.
A key goal of the mission is to advance Russia's claims to a vast swathe of territory beneath the Arctic Ocean, thought to be rich in oil, gas and other resources.
The members of parliament together with scientist Anatoly Sagalevich will carry out probes of the seabed and leave there a Russian tricolour flag and a capsule containing a message for future generations.
After the descent, the Akademik Fyodorov, which is equipped with two helicopters, will go on to set up a "drifting ice station" on a sheet of ice for scientific research purposes, including into climate change, the institute said.
Russia claims extra territorial waters based on the contention that a ridge of seabed known as the Lomonosov Ridge, which extends into northern Canada, is actually an extension of continental Russia.
The United States has opposed Russian attempts to claim control of large swathes of ocean off its northern coast, arguing that these waters should be fully open to international shipping.
The descent to the polar seabed is to take place on Sunday or Monday, the spokeswoman said.
