Nansen's Fram expedition was an 1893–1896 attempt by the
Norwegian explorer
Fridtjof Nansen to reach the geographical
North Pole by harnessing the natural east–west current of the
Arctic Ocean. In the face of much discouragement from other polar explorers, Nansen took his ship
Fram to the
New Siberian Islands in the eastern Arctic Ocean, froze her into the
pack ice, and waited for the drift to carry her towards the pole. Impatient with the slow speed and erratic character of the drift, after 18 months Nansen and a chosen companion,
Hjalmar Johansen, left the ship with a team of dogs and sledges and made for the pole. They did not reach it, but they achieved a record
Farthest North latitude of 86°13.6'N before a long retreat over ice and water to reach safety in
Franz Josef Land. Meanwhile,
Fram continued to drift westward, finally emerging in the North Atlantic Ocean.