Russia: Crew of 'Alexander Sannikov' icebreaker saves fishermen stranded on drifting ice plate

Subscribe to our channel! rupt.ly/subscribe The crew of the 'Alexander Sannikov' icebreaker saved two fishermen drifting on an ice plate in the Kara Sea, on Thursday evening, Gazprom's press-service reported on Friday. According to the preliminary information, two locals were driving a snowmobile on the Gulf of Ob when the ice split under them. The vehicle sank, but they were able to jump onto the nearest ice plate. The crew of icebreaker headed towards the search area as soon as they received the information about two men drifting. Within two hours the men were found despite the difficulties caused by the ice's constant movement. "Eventually, the fishermen were found, and the vessel approached the ice plate on a minimum speed and managed to lift the fishermen. After that, the fishermen were placed into a hospital room, where they received hot meals and necessary care," said Egor Agapov, the Alexander Sannikov's captain. According to Agapov the fishermen were to be evacuated by helicopter. --- SOT, Egor Agapov, captain of 'Alexander Sannikov' icebreaker (Russian): "Yesterday evening we received an urgent message about two people drifting on an ice plate. The icebreaker set off for the search area immediately. While moving towards the search area we started to prepare all life-saving equipment we had, we also prepared the ship's hospital. The rapid response unit prepared all necessary means of protection. While approaching the area, the greatest difficulty was to search for two people, because they were stuck on a drifting ice plate, and ice sheet in this area has not formed yet, so the constant ice drift made it difficult to locate these fishermen." M/S People stuck on ice plate *ZOOM AT SOURCE* SOT, Egor Agapov, captain of 'Alexander Sannikov' icebreaker (Russian): "When approaching the area of the supposed location, [we faced] the second problem which was the thickness of ice the fishermen had been drifting on, because the temperatures in the search area were not very low, the ice hadn't formed yet, so we were facing the risk of the ice plate with fisherman splitting. The icebreaker was forced to approach with the minimal speed, constantly inspecting the entire water area with searchlights and night vision binoculars. Eventually, the fishermen were found, and the vessel approached the ice plate on a minimum speed and managed to lift the fishermen. After that, the fishermen were placed into a hospital room, where they received hot meals and necessary care. Now they are on board of the vessel waiting for the evacuation by helicopter." #Russia #KaraSea #AlexanderSannikov #icebreaker #fishermen Video ID: 20201218-071 Video on Demand: https://ruptly.tv/videos/20201218-071 Contact: cd@ruptly.tv Twitter: http://twitter.com/Ruptly Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Ruptly

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