NNSL (DEC 23/96) - A floating research station, funded in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation, is heading for the polar ice pack off the coast of Banks Island.

And a Northern company announced last week it has put forward a bid to provide logistical support for the project.

The University of Washington plans to establish the station about 655 kilometres northwest of the Banks Island hamlet of Sachs Harbour.

Known as SHEBA (Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean), the project will see a station set up -- an icebreaker frozen into the ever-moving ice pack -- that will house up to 30 scientists along with their support crews for 14 months.

SHEBA will look at the interactions between the upper ocean, ice and the Earth's atmosphere which will help scientists make predictions of environmental change in the polar region.

It will also allow scientists to better understand the interaction of the surface energy balance -- energy lost to space and energy retained by clouds.

Research in this area has been severely limited by a lack of information.

"The researchers and their support team will encounter some of the most extreme conditions on Earth," according to information released last week by the Inuvialuit Development Corporation.

Inuvialuit Projects Inc., in co-operation with the Canadian Coast Guard, has put forward a bid to SHEBA co-ordinators to provide sophisticated logistical support for the duration of the study.

"It seems fitting that they have selected the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Sir John Franklin as the vessel to support their bid," the news release said.

"Like the famous Arctic explorer, SHEBA will push scientific frontiers."

A number of other international bidders have responded to the multi-million dollar bid.

However, Inuvialuit Projects Inc.'s team has the remote operations experience of constructing ice islands in the Beaufort Sea, while providing year-round logistical support, catering specialized aircraft and bear and environmental monitoring.

Coupled with the coast guard's extensive operational experience and safety record, Inuvialuit's bid could be hard to beat. Bidding results are expected to be announced in the new year.