The 50 Let Pobedy nuclear icebreaker departed from Murmansk on August 13. It will repeat the route of the 1977 expedition that opened the North Pole to surface ships. According to TASS, about a hundred people, including some from the first expedition, will take part in the memorable voyage.
For the first time, on August 17, 1977, the Arktika nuclear ship, headed by Captain Yury Kuchiyev, reached the North Pole by water. The 2017 expedition aims to reach the northernmost point of the Earth on August 17 and leave a flag there in memory of the pioneers of the North Pole, the agency reports.
During the voyage, a conference will be held aboard the icebreaker. The participants will discuss the fate of the now decommissioned icebreaker Arktika, environmental issues in the Arctic region and the development of year-round navigation along the Northern Sea Route.
"The main goal of this conference is to understand how economically expedient it is to develop year-round navigation along the Northern Sea Route. This is the main task. All this will be discussed," said Vyacheslav Ruksha, head of the voyage and Director General of Atomflot, said in an interview with TASS.
The voyage of the 50 Let Pobedy and the floating conference will also be attended by representatives from the State Duma, the Federation Council, Rosatom State Corporation and polar explorers from different generations. Among them are Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs Konstantin Kosachev and Chairman of the Russian Geographical Society's Polar Commission, Viktor Boyarsky.
Source: The Arctic