During the last decade, an increased advection of thick multi-year ice that originates from an area north of Greenland, out of the Arctic through Fram Strait was observed. A replacement of this old and thick sea ice by much thinner ice might precondition for rapid sea ice retreat in summer. Aim of the TIFAX campaign is to monitor ice conditions during summer in the main export pathway of the Arctic Ocean. The campaign complements the large scale spring sea ice surveys in April 2009 and 2011 (PAMARCMIP) and is a continuation of the TIFAX campaign in 2010 and 2011.