How is the ice free Arctic getting on?

At http://phys.org/print287936452.html … a Russian expedition has driven across the Arctic Ocean in buses fitted with bloated tyres that make them capable of crossing watery gaps in the ice. They used pick axes to chip a way through ice banks making their way at just over 6 mph but carrying a load of diesel fuel and other supplies, travelling 485 miles in 70 days. However, the Arctic route across the N Pole was not solid ice as they encountered gaps on occasion, with some patches of open sea. It was also dangerous to walk on the ice floes, in fear of thin ice and falling into freezing cold water.