During a break between the winter navigation periods, on June 18, 2012 the Kapitan Dranitsyn icebreaker of the Murmansk Branch left the Murmansk seaport for a cruise with 116 Russian and foreign passengers onboard.

The icebreaker was freighted for 10 days by an interregional noncommercial organization “Association of Polar Explorers”, in order to organize a tourist trip through the Barents and Kara Sea to the Franz Josef Land Archipelago without entering into territorial waters of other countries. Depending on weather conditions, the tourists will be able to enjoy the picturesque sceneries of the archipelago located in the Arctic Sea for a week.

During the whole voyage, passengers and personnel safety will be provided by the Murmansk Branch crew, which has enough experience and quialifications in organizing and taking cruise trips on the Kapitan Dranitsyn icebreaker.



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The Kapitan Dranitsyn is a diesel icebreaker ranked KM(*) LL3[2] AUT2, with power of 24 000 h.p., a 45-milimeter carcass and tonnage of 12,288 tons. It was built on the Vartsila shipyard (Finland), certified according to international standards, and also as a passenger vessel, and is designed to work in harsh arctic conditions.

The icebreaker can carry no more than 128 passengers onboard in 60 passenger cabins, 52 of which are double, including 6 double suites, and 8 of which are triple.