CASTINE (AP) – A Maine-built schooner used to explore the Arctic in the early 20th century will soon cross the Arctic Circle for the first time since 1994.

Eleven Maine Maritime Academy students and five professionals depart this week aboard the schooner Bowdoin on a trip to Greenland that’ll cover more than 2,200 nautical miles.

Dylan Clark and three fellow students pressed for the northward journey, which will allow the Maine Maritime crew to practice open-ocean sailing, navigation skills and iceberg avoidance, while maintaining the ship’s historic connection to the Arctic.

“We just wanted to experience why the Bowdoin was built,” he said.

Built in 1921 in East Boothbay, the Bowdoin is a National Historic Landmark that has made 26 expeditions to the Arctic. It has wintered over, frozen in the ice, four times.

The 88-foot ship was the inspiration of Donald MacMillan, a Freeport High School graduate who named the vessel for his alma mater, Bowdoin College.

MacMillan accompanied Maine explorer Robert Peary during his historic journey to the North Pole in 1909, but frozen feet forced MacMillan to turn back.

MacMillan developed the specs for an exploration ship strong enough the survive thick ice after being stranded during another expedition in 1913.

The Bowdoin’s hull is double-planked to survive crushing forces, the bow is tipped with steel for cutting through ice, and the ship’s hull shape is designed to rise out of the water, rather than be crushed, if it becomes surrounded by ice.

“I have a soft spot for the Bowdoin,” said Christopher Moore, who will serve as second mate. “The idea that she was going north again, I just had to be a part of it.”

Over the past three weeks, the crew members have been working to prepare the schooner for the trip. They’ll be using several items that weren’t available in its early years: radar, global positioning, satellite telephone and the Internet.