RV «Akademik Fedorov»
RV «Akademik Fedorov» was built in 1987 by the Finnish company «Rauma-Repola».
Vessel's captains: Mikhail Mikhailov, Valery Viktorov, Mikhail Kaloshin, Igor Stetsun, Dmitry Karpenko, Oleg Kalmykov
CHARACTERISTICS
| Maximum length, m | 141,2 |
| Maximum width, m | 23,5 |
| Speed | 16 knots |
| Crew | 75 people |
| Scientific staff | 175 people |
| Ice class | Arc7 |
| Displacement, t | 16200 |
| Draught according to water line, m | 8,5 |
The RV «Akademik Fedorov» was designed and built as a multifunctional vessel for working in high latitudes. Its side has a reinforced ice belt, so the vessel is able to overcome flat, one-year-old ice one meter thick with a continuous movement at a speed of 2 knots and with «incursions» of up to 2.5 meters.
To carry out ice reconnaissance and transport cargo, a helicopter facility is located at the stern of the vessel, where two helicopters of the Ka-32 and MI-8 types can be placed. To inspect the vessel's underwater part there is an onboard diving station. The RV «Akademik Fedorov» is equipped with bow and stern thrusters, a stabilizing system and a trim system, equalizing the balance of the vessel «stern-bow», «starboard-port».
THERE ARE 11 LABORATORIES ON BOARD THE VESSEL, INCLUDING HYDROBIOLOGICAL, HYDROCHEMICAL, ECOLOGICAL AND TWO OCEANOGRAPHICAL LABS.
To study physical and mechanical ice properties, an ice research facility equipped with hydraulic presses operates on board the vessel, as well as a strain gauge laboratory to study the effect of loads on the ship’s hull. In addition, the vessel has a multibeam echo sounder, which gives a three-dimensional picture of the bottom, and a TOPAS PS 18 bottom profiler for studying bottom sediments and sediments in rocks.
Meteorological observations are carried out using an automated weather station with sensors for air temperature and humidity, wind speed and direction, solar radiation, water temperature and salinity, visibility and cloud height. The «Sea-Bird SBE 911» system with a «Rosetta» bathymetric section, which can take samples from depths down to 6000 m, and an onboard equipment for HVT testing are installed on the deck.
The RV «Akademik Fedorov» is named after Evgenii Konstantinovich Fedorov, a Papanin expedition member, a geophysicist, a Hero of the Soviet Union, an academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences, a Head of the USSR Hydrometeorological Service, a member of the Presidium of the World Peace Council, a vice-president of the World Meteorological Organization and a director of the USSR Arctic Institute.
ACHIEVEMENTS
1987-1988
- The first test voyage of the vessel. Circumnavigation around Antarctica.
1990
- The vessel received the status of a unique scientific installation. The RV «Akademik Fedorov» can carry out work in areas of the Arctic and Antarctic that are difficult for other vessels to reach, even during the polar winter.
1992
- Participation in the organization of the first and only drifting station on Antarctic ice in the Weddell Sea.
1994
- The first Arctic voyage of the vessel as part of the Ecotundra international expedition.
2000
- Comprehensive geophysical expedition to the Central Arctic Basin was organized on board the vessel to determine the boundaries of the Arctic shelf.
2005
- The vessel, without an icebreaker support, passed through the Earth's North Pole geographic point.
2007
- On August 2, two deep-sea manned vehicles «Mir-1» and «Mir-2» were lowered to 4300 m depth from the RV «Akademik Fedorov» at the North Pole geographic point. The achievements of this expedition are included in the Guinness Book of Records.
2011
- A virtual branch of the Russian Museum has been opened on board.
2014
- For the first time, seismic measurements were carried out on board at the North Pole.
2016
- Carrying out hydrographic and geological work in the Bouvet island area.
2019-2020
- Participation in the MOSAiC international scientific expedition.
PHOTOS
| By Sergey Kashin, Dmitry Rezvov, Dmitry Smirnov |
