Ice as far as the eye can see, here and there a sea bear in search of food, a walrus cradling itself in safety on an ice floe, and in the middle of it all the atomic icebreaker rolling through the meter-thick ice. This is a journey that has it all, one of the rare adventures reserved for only a few people.
Text: Rolf Fleckenstein Photos: Antony Smith, Lauren Farmer
Where standard cruise ships heading for the North Pole stop, the journey on the Russian nuclear icebreaker "50 Let Pobedy", which means "50 Years of Victory", really gets underway. The mere fact that you are a passenger on an icebreaker powered by nuclear energy makes many a man's heart beat faster. The journey to the North Pole and the associated fact that you reach a place in the world that only very few people have ever seen in their lives and that until now was reserved for a few extraordinary people such as explorers, scientists and aviation pioneers who undertook an expedition to the North Pole, is an absolute highlight in itself. It's a journey you make once in a lifetime and never forget.
50 Let Pobedy
A highlight of the trip is the ride on the nuclear icebreaker "50 Let Pobedy". The masses of the world's strongest icebreaker are impressive. The 159 m long and 30 m wide ship has a displacement of 25,840 tons and an engine power of 75,000 hp, which accelerates it to a maximum of 21.4 knots. The over 40 cm thick steel walls...