Yacht of German traveler failing to overcome bureaucratic obstacles leaves Murmansk
MURMANSK. July 31 (Interfax) - The captain of the German yacht Dagmar Aalen, who spent 12 days in port at Murmansk failed to reach agreement with Russian border guards and cancelled his long-planned Arctic expedition.
Crewmember of the yacht Vladimir Melnik told Interfax that the departure from the port of Murmansk is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Wednesday.
Prominent German traveler Arved Fuchs who had planned a voyage to the Frantz Josef Land Archipelago in the Arctic from Murmansk will be heading back to Germany. He decided to cancel his expedition to the Arctic for which he prepared over a year.
"The cancellation of the international expedition on the Dagmar Aalen to the Frantz Josef Land is a humiliating situation. A person's dream was crushed," Melnik said.
The Dagmar Aalen called in at Murmansk's merchant port on July 19. After replenishing stores Fuchs planned to head to the Franz Josef Land, however, he failed to obtain permission for departure from the Federal Security Service's Border Guard Department for the Murmansk region.
