On January 23, 2018 the Kapitan Khlebnikov icebreaker was at the debouchure of Sovetskaya Gavan in the area of waiting for icebreaker escort in the seaport of Vanino.

About 10:00 a.m. crew members of the icebreaker saw two fishers, who had been adrift on the floe ice broken off the coastal side.

The icebreaker’s captain Vladimir Boldakov immediately informed operative services of Russia’s Emergency Situations Service and the masters of the seaports of Vanino and Sovetskaya Gavan about the incident.

By taking into account the situation and the fact that the wind and the coastal current floated the floe ice away from the coast, the icebreaker’s captain took a decision to save fishers independently.

Upon the icebreaker’s maneuvers crew members succeeded in evacuating fishers aboard the ship from the floe ice.