Updated at: 10/30/2009 10:23 AM

Russia Works To Claim Arctic Sea Shelf

MOSCOW (AP) - An official says Russia is planning extensive research to help uphold its claim to the energy-rich Arctic Sea shelf.

Andrei Smirnov of the state-run company Atomflot says Russia is planning icebreaker missions in the Arctic over the next three years to conduct a detailed geological analysis of the seabed. Russia claims a large part of the Arctic shelf, which it says is an extension of the Eurasian continent.

Smirnov said at a conference Friday that Russia plans to send an atomic-powered icebreaker and a research ship to the Arctic next summer. Similar missions will take place over the following two years. Russia, the U.S., Canada, Denmark and Norway have been trying to assert jurisdiction over parts of the Arctic.