It was a sailing barque with a steam engine similar to "Fram" and SS "Vega". Upon recommendation from Fridtjof Nansen it was purchased for 60,000 rubles and renamed to ("Dawn"). Renamed "Zarya", the ship was sent to the shipyard of Colin Archer in Larvik to be heavily modified in order to deal with the ice. Colin Archer, the renowned Norwegian shipbuilder, had designed and built Fritdjof Nansen's ship "Fram", which in 1896 had returned unscathed from its long drift in the northern polar ocean during Nansen's "Farthest North" expedition, 1893–96. Archer had also fitted out "Southern Cross" for the Southern Cross Expedition in 1897 to become a polar ship. Archer strengthened "Zarja" heavily with internal frames and beams, and deckhouses were added and modified. The rig was changed to barkentine (square sail on foremast only). In October 1899 the ship was certified by Norwegian authorities for a three-year expedition in the Arctic. Equipment for the hydrological studies was ordered in England, Sweden and Russia. The hydrological preparation were started too late, and Kolchak, who was responsible for the work, struggled to complete them in time. He also visited Nansen in Norway for consultation and training, and then traveled to Moscow and Arkhangelsk where he recruited three crew members. One of them, Semyon Evstifeev was later praised by Toll as his best sailor. The scientific part of the expedition consisted of The supporting team included  In early April 1900, the entire team gathered in the Norwegian town of Larvik, where "Zarya" was being fitted by the famous shipbuilder Colin Archer. From there they sailed to Oslo to fetch scientific equipment and a supply of coal and then to Saint Petersburg. On 29 May, Nicholas II visited the ship, and among other things helped to resupply it with coal. A few days later the ship was visited by the Grand Duke Konstantin. On 8 June 1900, "Zarya" left St. Petersburg heading for Kronstadt and the Gulf of Finland, where it had a minor problem. While it was being fixed in Tallinn, Toll left the ship, crossed the gulf, and went by train to Oslo to consult with Nansen, and then to Bergen to meet "Zarya". From Bergen to Tromsø the ship was guided by a specially hired local pilot. In Tromsø, while the crew was waiting for the coal resupply from England, it had two major incidents: Malygin got arrested for a drunken brawl, whereas Semyashkin contracted a venereal disease and was found unfit for his duties by Dr. Walter.