Russian scientists plan to study sunken icebreaker

Russian scientists plan to study the Chelyuskin icebreaker, which sunk in the Chukchi Sea in 1934. On August 15, the expedition will leave from Anadyr on board the Akademik Lavrentyev, the press service of the Chukotka government told RIA Novosti on Friday.

The Russian Academy of Sciences' expedition will be led by Alexei Mikhailov and is called Chelyuskin-70. It will be the first attempt to dive to the icebreaker that sunk 70 years ago.

Archeological studies will be carried out on the Chelyuskin. Researchers hope to find the logbook and other papers to determine the real cause of the tragedy.

Divers will use state-of-the-art equipment like the TSL remote controlled robot (used in the army) to work in the freezing water of the Chukchi Sea. The robot can dive to 6 kilometers and perform automatic operations.

The Chelyuskin-70 expedition will return on August 25 and the researchers will work on the legendary icebreaker for 4 days.

Yuri Salnikov, the director of the famous film about the Chelyuskin crew, will shoot a documentary about the expedition. The expedition is sponsored by the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Chukotka government, the Navy, the Arctic and Antarctic Museum and the Federation Council youth commission.

While sailing the Northern Sea Route from Europe to Chukotka, the Chelyuskin icebreaker was caught in pack ice and crushed in February 1934. One man died and the other 104 crewmen landed on an ice floe. Soviet pilots rescued all survivors.