South Korea’s first icebreaker, the Araon, left Alaska for an exploration mission in the Arctic region on Wednesday, local time.
 
During the expedition, the Araon will research underwater geographical and environmental changes in the Arctic Sea.
 
One of its key missions is to find if gas hydrates, a next-generation energy source, are buried in the Arctic.

The icebreaker has traveled the Arctic and Antarctic regions seven times since 2010, but this month's trip will be the first time it enters another country's exclusive economic zone for resource exploration.
 
The 110-meter vessel weighs seve-thousand-484 tons. It can carry helicopters, barges and other various devices. The Araon is also able to break one-meter-thick ice at the speed of three knots.