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100 sailors trapped in ice — in icebreaker — near Arctic outpost

The historic convoy to Pevek did not have a lucky outcome. Three vessels, among them an icebreaker, might not get loose before spring.
February 07, 2017

They were carrying construction materials for the new local port, built to facilitate the installation of Russia’s first floating nuclear power plant. It was a historic voyage. Never before have icebreakers escorted cargo vessels from the western part of the Arctic to Pevek, the town by the East Siberian Sea, in mid-winter.

Conditions underway were tough. The convoy soon needed assistance from a second and more powerful icebreaker, the «Admiral Makarov», which came to support from its base in Vladivostok.

The convoy, which included cargo carriers «Iogann Makhmastal» and «Sinegorsk» and diesel-engined icebreaker «Kapital Dranitsyn», arrived in Pevek on 7th February. They were due to depart few days later. That did not happen.

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