Krasin (1976 icebreaker)

NSF picture of Russian icebreaker Krasin on its way to McMurdo Sound, Antarctica
History
RussiaRussia
Name:	Krasin
Namesake:	Leonid Borisovich Krasin
Owner:	Far East Shipping Company (FESCO)[1][2]
Port of registry:	Vladivostok,  Russia[3]
Builder:	Wärtsilä Helsinki Shipyard, Helsinki, Finland
Yard number:	400[3]
Completed:	28 April 1976[3]
Identification:	Call sign: UIFY[3] IMO number: 7359644[3] MMSI number: 273143900[1]
Status:	In service
General characteristics [3]
Type:	Icebreaker
Tonnage:	14,508 GT 4,217 NT 7,554 DWT
Displacement:	20,247 tons
Length:	134.84 m (442.4 ft) (overall)
Beam:	25.97 m (85.2 ft) (moulded) 26.05 m (85.5 ft) (max)
Height:	45.60 m (149.6 ft) from keel[2]
Draft:	11.00 m (36.09 ft)
Depth:	16.71 m (54.8 ft)
Ice class:	LL2
Installed power:	9 × Wärtsilä-Sulzer 12ZH40/48 (9 × 3,385 kW)
Propulsion:	3 × Strömberg DC motors (3 × 8,820 kW) Three fixed pitch propellers
Speed:	20.30 knots (37.60 km/h; 23.36 mph) (max) 19.8 knots (36.7 km/h; 22.8 mph) (service)[2] 2 knots (3.7 km/h; 2.3 mph) in 1.8 m (5.9 ft) level ice[4]
Aviation facilities:	Helipad and hangar[2]

The Krasin (Russian: Красин) is a Russian (formerly Soviet) icebreaker. The vessel operates in polar regions.

History

The ship was built at the Wärtsilä Helsinki Shipyard in Helsinki, Finland in 1976.^[2] Named after an early Bolshevik leader and Soviet diplomat Leonid Krasin and an earlier icebreaker of the same name.

Design

The second Krasin is a triple-screw diesel-powered icebreaker owned by the Far East Shipping Company (FESCO) and is based in Vladivostok. The hull has a friction-reducing coating.^[5]

Krasin can break ice six feet thick.^[6]

Service

During the 2004-2005 season (Operation Deep Freeze 2005), the United States Antarctic Program hired the Krasin as a secondary vessel to help clear a channel to McMurdo Station^[7] because the Coast Guard icebreaker Polar Star faced a record 90+ mile cut through fast ice. The Krasin departed Vladivostok on December 21, 2004 and arrived at the Ross Sea ice edge one month later.^[6][8]

The Krasin departed the Ross Sea on the 9th of February, reaching Vladivostok on March 5, 2005. She is unlikely to return to the Antarctic as FESCO have signed a multi-year contract for Krasin to support oil rig operations in the Sea of Okhotsk from March 2005 onwards.^[6] Along with her sister ship Icebreaker Admiral Makarov, Krasin has been providing winter escort to large capacity tankers from the port of De-Castri (Khabarovsk) as part of the Sakhalin-I project.^[9] During the summer months she provides escort on the Northern Sea Route to the Eastern sector of Arctic servicing sea terminals of North Chukotka.^[10]

See also

She is one of four large icebreakers operated by the Far East Shipping Company:

• Icebreaker Admiral Makarov
• Icebreaker Magadan
• Icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov

References

1. "Krasin (7359644)". Equasis. French Ministry for Transport. Retrieved 2011-10-13. (registration required (help)).
2. "FESCO vessels: Krasin". Fesco Transport Group. Retrieved 2008-07-20.
3. "Krasin (740150)". Register of ships. Russian Maritime Register of Shipping. Retrieved 2012-10-28.
4. The world icebreaker, ice breaking supply and research vessel fleet. Baltic Ice Management, February 2011. Retrieved 2011-10-07.
5. "Ship Resupply 2005/2006" (PDF). U.S. Antarctic Program. Retrieved 2008-07-20.
6. "Krasin". Antarctic Philately. Retrieved 2008-07-20.
7. "Russian Ice-Breaker Krasin Heading for Antarctic to Rescue U.S. Polar Station McMurdo". Russian Embassy Press Release. 2004-12-21. Archived from the original on February 21, 2006. Retrieved 2008-07-20.
8. "U.S., Russian icebreakers open path to Antarctic base". USA Today. February 6, 2005. Retrieved 2008-01-09.
9. "Ice Breakers left Vladivostok for Sakhalin Coast". Vladivostok Times. December 24, 2006. Retrieved 2008-07-20.
10. "Icebreaker the Krasin pursued to East Arctic". FESCO. Retrieved 2008-07-20.

External links

• Account of Krasin's expedition to McMurdo Sound.