Admiral Makarov releases research vessel from ice captivity

VLADIVOSTOK, January 7 (Itar-Tass) -- The Admiral Makarov icebreaker
of the Far Eastern shipping company broke through a thick ice in the
Sakhalin Bay of the Sea of Okhotsk and towed the research vessel
Profession Kizevetter through the ice.
Since the start of the escorting mission the Admiral Makarov has stuck
in the ice floe after 24 nautical miles of towing, but started breaking
the ice by the stern. On Friday morning, the Admiral Makarov broke through
a thick ice floe, started towing the Professor Kizevetter and headed she
to the Magadan icebreaker, which is drifting 14 nautical miles northeast
of the convoy waiting for it to arrive, the Russian maritime rescue and
coordination centre reported.
The Magadan icebreaker is to tow the research vessel to the free
waters. The Admiral Makarov will have to return to the Bereg Nadezhdy
refrigerated cargo ship and the Sodruzhestvo mother ship stuck in the ice
and to release them from the ice captivity. The Krasin icebreaker is also
on the way to help the vessels stranded in the ice in the Sakhalin Bay.
The Krasin is planning to arrive in the bay late in the evening on January
8, the press service of the Far Eastern shipping company reported.
-0-baz/usn