Ship with Russian university students goes aground in remote archipelago Franz Josef Land

The vessel that was built at the Ukrainian Kherson Shipyard in 1975 got in trouble late evening 24th of July as it was sailing between the islands of Wilczek Land and Komsomol Island.

A day after the incident, the ship remains stuck and the nearest vessel is several hundred kilometers away.

According to the Russian transport authorities there is a crew of 34 people and 57 expedition members on board. Among the latter are university students from the city of Arkhangelsk.

There has been no leak of fuel and none of the passengers are injured, a representative of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations says to the Russian version of the Barents Observer.

The Mikhail Somov is on a several weeks long expedition to 21 research stations along the Russian Arctic coast. Among them is the Krenkel research station at Heiss Island, Franz Josef Land.

ADVERTISEMENT

The station is located only few kilometers from where the Mikhail Somov grounded.

The research vessel set out from Arkhangelsk on the 4th of July. On board was 800 tons of goods that was to be delivered to the 21 research stations, the expedition’s social media page informs.

The Mikhail Somov is operated by Semeteo, a regional unit under the Russian Meteorological Service (Roshydromet). On board the ship is a helicopter.