HISTORY

Kapitan Khlebnikov is built in Finland in 1987 and has been the only vessel for polar expeditions able to reach the 90th Parallel, this year seems to be making its last trip on the 8th of December 2010.

This last issue will end on January 5, 2011, during which he held the 100th Anniversary of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, for this occasion will be a very special guest on board, the captain Petr Golikov, the only one who has circumnavigated the world Antarctica twice. Another special guest is Andrew Lambert, Naval History and author of The Gates of Hell: Sir John Franklin’s Tragic Quest for the Northwest Passage.

After this last polar expedition ship Kapitan Khlebnikov will be used for the purpose for which it was born, I mean to attend the polar bases, and it will not lead to more “tourists.”

Since 1992 he has sailed as expedition cruise through the most remote corners of the globe. In 1996-1997 he became the first ship to sail around Antarctica with passengers. It has 54 first class outside cabins and suites. Has a maximum capacity of 112 passengers.

To be considered an icebreaker ship requires three components: a special reinforced hull, a hull form that will disperse the ice and provide enough power to break through. A boat with a hull normal unreinforced be at risk if it hits the ice, very smooth to be the coup.

Icebreakers get through the ice fragment displacement and force to push the ice with his bow. The ship’s weight presses the ice, which does not support it, cracks and breaks into pieces. A helmet specifically designed for icebreaking fragments should be directed to the sides of the ship or down, to facilitate progress of the boat. A high concentration of chunks of ice will stop the boat, before they break.

Essential for a icebreaker ship is the ability to propel yourself onto the ice, break it, and separating the fragments leaving a trail in their wake.