Russian training vessel Sedov has become the first large sailing ship to visit the Svalbard Archipelago during the fall and winter season, spokeswoman for Murmansk State Technical University Tatyana Zhitnik told RIA Novosti.
“The training ship crossed the 78th north parallel, entered Isfjord, a famous ice-filled fjord, and moored at the port of Barentsburg late last week, setting a new record. No other vessel in her class has ever reached such a remote area in wintertime,” Zhitnik said.
According to Zhitnik, during the first day of their time here the ship’s cadets played football with a team made up of Spitsbergen-based miners and staged a concert on board ship.
On day two, the Sedov stopped by Svalbard’s administrative center at Longyearbyen.
“Once moored, the ship was approached by local residents, many of whom recall her first visit in summer 2006. The ship’s crew and cadets were shown around the rapidly developing arctic oasis, whose population has reached 2,500,” the spokesperson noted.
The ship has now left the Svalbard Archipelago and is heading for the port of Murmansk.
“The vessel is nearing the close of the 2nd stage of its Northern expedition, which is aimed at exploring Russia’s Arctic continental shelf, developing arctic fishing and commemorating the heroic deeds of the Northern Fleet during the Great Patriotic War,” Zhitnik added.
Built in 1920 the Sedov has an overall length of 117.5 meters, a displacement of 7,320 tons and a crew numbering 320. The vessel was built at the Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft shipyard as a cargo ship. In 1936, the ship was modified to become a cargo-carrying training vessel. In WWII, she travelled under the German naval ensign. After the war, the ship was handed over to the Soviet Union in war reparations together with the Padua (now the Kruzenshtern) and the Gorch Fock. She was renamed the Sedov and converted into one of the Soviet Navy’s sail training vessels. In 1991, the Sedov was handed over to Murmansk State Technical University. She won an entry in the 2011 Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s largest tall ship still in service.
MOSCOW, September 27 (RIA Novosti)
