The Russian yacht Peter I will try to set a new record in 2010 by attempting a round-the-world voyage through the Arctic Ocean during the summer-fall season, the captain said on Thursday.
The icy route will take the vessel through the northern seas of Russia, the United States and Canada without the help of ice breakers. Eight crew members, including one woman, have been modifying the 18-meter long steel hull since last fall.
The crew hopes they will succeed in setting a new world record as the first sailors to circumnavigate the northern sea route by yacht.
"The expedition will cross the northern sea route, which extends 12,500 [nautical] miles [23.000 km], 3,500 in conditions of thick ice. This is the shortest and most dangerous route around the world," Sergei Murzayev told RIA Novosti.
The Peter I is due to set sail from St. Petersburg on June 1, passing around Scandinavia and arriving in Murmansk on July 1. During the voyage, the yacht will dock in Russian and foreign Arctic ports, including Dixon and Barrow in the United States, Cambridge Bay in Canada, Godthab in Greenland and Reykjavik in Iceland.
"The success of this expedition will set a new world record and consolidate the leading role of the Russian state in the development of the Arctic," Murzayev declared.
ST. PETERSBURG, April 15, (RIA Novosti)
