And the thunder came! MVK expedition goes on

The MVK team continues its work as part of the “Arktika-2007” expedition. Alexey Shaburov leads the project “North Pole – new opportunities in life and business”.

The MVK team consists of the press-secretary of the Director General of MVK Natalia Yurchenko, Editor of the science division of the “Vokrug Sveta” journal Alexander Sergeev, cameraman Dmitry Kuznetsov and photographer Alexey Nagaev.

After boarding the “Akademik Keldysh” we were provided with a briefing on general behavior onboard, how to keep fire security and what to do in case of alarm signal. Everything was real – alarm signal, boarding on the rescue boat, instructions how to start the boat. But the journalists “with all their cameras and stuff turned the briefing into a comedy” grumbled the executives.

The sea disturbance is force one. Intolerably. How I hate sea sickness.

The next day personally I felt better. Waves of the coming storm rumbled like a giant hammer. Sea disturbance force four – nothing serious, smile the old seamen. “Attention! In view of the coming storm we need to secure the load. Crew to the stern!”, – announced the chief officer on the radio. Oil barrels were nearly flying above the stern. Sailors removed the rubber boat “Zodiak” and fixed containers on the deck.     

“Keldysh” already danced on the waves. “Storm – force six, seven. Wave height is nearly six meters…” – moodily said on the bridge. Nothing. Force nine – this is a storm.

“Don’t walk on the decks. You’ll be washed overboard!” – cried the sailors. Everyone onboard worried about MVK’s photographer Dmitry Kuznetsov who stood on the brink of the deck and shot the waves. “You see, a 3 meter wave its crushing power is equal to 3 tons”, – explained the seamen. Our colleagues were happy, they cried: “We were staying on the second deck and a huge wave spattered us (of course, they exaggerated – they were only sprayed)!”.

On the top deck, on the stern (the fore was blocked) such a strong wind blows and it is hard to breathe. It steals in your clothes, thrills and gets in every part of your soul. Scary. Very scary. Then the fear disappears. You sink it in that breaker which rolls towards “Keldysh”. When our vessel climbs on the wave and falls down you feel like you are on a very extreme rollercoaster. The ship jeeps on the crests, jiggles like a Matryoshka. “You can’t sleep – nock your head on the wall, roll on the bed,” – confessed Alexey Naagev, MVK’s photographer.

Excited by adventures and the divine beauty we suddenly noticed that one of the journalists had stayed in his cabin for two days . The rocking brought him only sea sickness.

“The pilot is reserved for 1 am”, – answers captain Yury Gorbach to endless questions about when we are going to reach Murmansk. We approached Kola Bay at around 10 pm. But we had to drift along the shore while the storm was raging.

We would like to remind you that MVK is the information partner of the “Arktika-2007” expedition. The goal of MVK’s expedition is to develop the polar museum exposition which was first opened at the North Pole.

Natalia Yurchenko,
press-secretary of the Director General of MVK
”Akademik Keldysh”, “Arktika-2007” expedition  
Moscow – North Pole – Barents sea