The ''Krasin'' (russian: Красин) is a Russian (formerly

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

)

icebreaker An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...

. The vessel operates in polar regions.

History

The ship was built at the

Wärtsilä Wärtsilä Oyj Abp (), trading internationally as Wärtsilä Corporation, is a Finnish company which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the marine and energy markets. The core products of Wärtsilä include technol ...

Helsinki Shipyard Helsinki Shipyard Oy is a Finnish shipbuilding company based at Hietalahti shipyard in Helsinki, Finland. The company was established in 2019 to continue the shipbuilding activities of Arctech Helsinki Shipyard in Finland. History Helsinki S ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

in 1976. Named after an early

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

leader and

diplomat

Leonid Krasin Leonid Borisovich Krasin (russian: Леони́д Бори́сович Кра́син; 15 July 1870 – 24 November 1926) was a Russian Soviet politician, engineer, social entrepreneur, Bolshevik revolutionary politician and a Soviet diplomat. In 1 ...

and an earlier icebreaker of the same name.

Design

The second ''Krasin'' is a triple-

screw A screw and a bolt (see '' Differentiation between bolt and screw'' below) are similar types of fastener typically made of metal and characterized by a helical ridge, called a ''male thread'' (external thread). Screws and bolts are used to fa ...

diesel-powered icebreaker owned by the

Far East Shipping Company FESCO Transportation Group ( rus, Fesco, r=FESCO Group) is an intermodal transport operator in Russia, which provides services, including marine shipping, Roll-on/roll-off, rail transportation and port handling. The parent company of the Group i ...

(FESCO) and is based in

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea ...

. The hull has a friction-reducing coating. ''Krasin'' can break ice thick.

Service

During the 2004–2005 season (Operation Deep Freeze 2005), the

United States Antarctic Program The United States Antarctic Program (or USAP; formerly known as the United States Antarctic Research Program or USARP and the United States Antarctic Service or USAS) is an organization of the United States government which has presence in the A ...

hired the ''Krasin'' as a secondary vessel to help clear a channel to

McMurdo Station McMurdo Station is a United States Antarctic research station on the south tip of Ross Island, which is in the New Zealand-claimed Ross Dependency on the shore of McMurdo Sound in Antarctica. It is operated by the United States through the Unit ...

because the

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...

icebreaker

Polar Star A pole star or polar star is a star, preferably bright, nearly aligned with the axis of a rotating astronomical body. Currently, Earth's pole stars are Polaris (Alpha Ursae Minoris), a bright magnitude-2 star aligned approximately with its ...

faced a record cut through

fast ice Fast ice (also called ''land-fast ice'', ''landfast ice'', and ''shore-fast ice'') is sea ice that is "fastened" to the coastline, to the sea floor along shoals or to grounded icebergs.Leppäranta, M. 2011. The Drift of Sea Ice. Berlin: Springer ...

of more than . The ''Krasin'' departed Vladivostok on December 21, 2004 and arrived at the Ross Sea ice edge one month later. 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 The Sea of Okhotsk ( rus, Охо́тское мо́ре, Ohótskoye móre ; ja, オホーツク海, Ohōtsuku-kai) is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. It is located between Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands ...

from March 2005 onwards. Along with her sister ship '' Admiral Makarov'', ''Krasin'' has been providing winter escort to large capacity tankers from the port of

De-Kastri De-Kastri (russian: Де-Ка́стри) is a rural locality (a settlement) in Ulchsky District of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia. Population: Etymology The settlement's name is the Russian phonetic transliteration of the name of the Marquis de Castri ...

(

Khabarovsk Khabarovsk ( rus, Хабaровск, a=Хабаровск.ogg, r=Habárovsk, p=xɐˈbarəfsk) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China ...

) as part of the

Sakhalin-I The Sakhalin-I (russian: Сахалин-1) project, a sister project to Sakhalin-II, is a consortium for production of oil and gas on Sakhalin Island and immediately offshore. It operates three fields in the Okhotsk Sea: Chayvo, Odoptu and Arku ...

project. During the summer months she provides escort on the

Northern Sea Route The Northern Sea Route (NSR) (russian: Се́верный морско́й путь, ''Severnyy morskoy put'', shortened to Севморпуть, ''Sevmorput'') is a shipping route officially defined by Russian legislation as lying east of Nov ...

to the Eastern sector of Arctic servicing sea terminals of North Chukotka. In September 2022, it was announced that ''Krasin''s 1974-built sister ship ''Ermak'' would be dismantled for parts to keep the 1976-built icebreaker in service. On April 1, 2023 ''Krasin'' left Murmansk after undergoing classification directed repairs to engines, hull, propulsion motors, and headed for the Northern Sea region, serving the Baltic, White, Caspian, Azov, Okhotsk, Japan, and Kara seas.

References

External links

Account of ''Krasin's'' expedition to McMurdo Sound.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krasin Ships built in Helsinki Icebreakers of the Soviet Union Icebreakers of Russia 1976 ships