Kayaker lost en route to North Pole

Dominick Arduin, 44, a French-born Finnish citizen who set out to reach the North Pole on her own, has not been heard from since last week. This was her second attempt to reach the pole.

Arduin was due to cross a 55-km stretch of open water by kayak on Friday. She set out on her expedition from Siberia, and planned to paddle her way to a region with a strong ice-cover.

Arduin had a small kayak, skis, and a 75-kilogram sled.

She planned to reach the geographical North Pole by skiing and by kayak, hoping to become the first woman in the world to accomplish the feat alone. She contacted her back-up group on Friday and promised to turn on her positioning beacon, but a signal providing her coordinates was never received.

Arduin was also supposed to contact her web site and the Finnish Broadcasting Company on a daily basis, but failed to do so.