Russian ship reaches North Pole for 100th time
MURMANSK. Aug 17 (Interfax) - A Russian ship has reached the North Pole for the hundredth time, the centennial "visitor" on August 16 is the icebreaker '50 Let Pobedy' (50 Years of Victory).
In all, ships have been to the North Pole 118 times, a spokesperson for Atomflot, a state enterprise, said on Monday. That includes 100 journeys made under the Soviet and Russian flags, eight under Sweden's, four under Germany's, three under Canada's and three under the United States flag.
"Of the Soviet and Russian vessels, nuclear-powered icebreakers have been at the top of the planet 95 times, the research vessel 'Akademik Fyodorov' visited the Pole four times and the diesel icebreaker 'Captain Dranitsyn' was there once. Among nuclear-powered icebreakers, the record breaker is 'Yamal' having visited the Pole 48 times, her captain Alexander Lembrik led the icebreaker 23 times," the spokesperson said.
That the North Pole was reached on the eve of August 17 is particularly important because it was on August 17 in 1977 that the nuclear-powered icebreaker "Arktika" was the first ship to have reached the North Pole, Atomflot said.
The icebreaker "50 Let Pobedy" set sail for the landmark journey from Murmansk on August 11 and is due to return on August 22. The icebreaker is carrying tourists who will visit the islands of the Franz Josef Land archipelago on the way back.
"50 Let Pobedy" is the world's largest nuclear-powered icebreaker. The vessel is 159 meters long and 30 meters wide and has a full displacement of 25,000 tonnes and a speed of up to 18 knots. The maximum thickness of the ice it can cut is 2.8 meters. The total capacity of the three shafts of the atomic ship is 75,000 horsepower (55 megawatts). The ship has a 138-member crew.
The vessel is used each year to organize Arctic cruises. A journey to the North Pole aboard 50 Let Pobedy is offered by Poseidon Expeditions, a tour operator. According to the tour operator's website an Arctic tour costs at least $25,995.