17.11.2009
Icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov of the Far East Shipping Company (FESCO) got stuck in Antarctic drift ice zone on Sunday needs to overcome five miles to reach open water, said Tuesday the source in FESCO.
The ship has passed about 1.5 marine miles during last day; light air obstructs the ship's motion. The wind should be 15 mps to make ice clear the vessel's way; now the wind's force is 5 mps, said the source.
The situation with icebreaker is standard, said yesterday Vyacheslav Naganiuk, the head of FESCO special fleet department to
RIA Novosti. The ship has enough water and food supplies; there is no danger to the crew and passengers.
Icebreaker
Kapitan Khlebnikov was caught in the ice while it was cruising coastwise Antarctic. Strong west and southwest wind blew ice to the ship's anchorage site. There are 105 passengers aboard the icebreaker; mostly, they are British tourists and BBC camera crew shooting the film Frozen Planet. The ship is heading for the world's most southern city Ushuaia located at Argentine part of Tierra del Fuego.
Kapitan Khlebnikov is an icebreaker of
Kapitan Sorokin-class. It was constructed in 1981 in Finland, commissioned in FESCO same year. In 1991 it was refitted to tourist vessel and has been performing Arctic and Antarctic voyages for many years. Tonnage of the ship is 14,917 tonnes, length is 129 meters, beam is 26.7 meters, draft is 8.5 meters, crew is up to 76 men.
Source: RusNavy.com, photo: Icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov (fesco.ru)
