The vessel began the passage from Hammerfest on September 15 after completion of seismic operations in the Barents Sea. The ship followed the 3,000 nautical mile NSR along the northern coast of Russia to Cape Dezhnev in the Bering Straits.
The voyage was completed in just nine days. After passing the Bering Straits on September 24, “Polarcus Alima” continued the onward passage to New Zealand, where the ship will operate for up to seven months in total, Motorship.com writes.
Polarcus Alima is a 12-streamer 3D seismic vessel of the SX134 design, designed by Ulstein of Norway and built at Drydocks World of Dubai.
A similar vessel, the “Vyacheslav Tikhonov” (formerly named “Polarcus Selma”) has recently been acquired by Russia’s largest shipping company Sovcomflot, as BarentsObserver reported. The vessels are designed for geophysical exploration on the continental shelf of the Arctic and sub-Arctic seas, operating in harsh weather and ice conditions.
This is the first known passage of a 3D seismic vessel along the NSR. Preparations for the voyage were carried out in close cooperation with Tschudi Arctic Transit AS (through its Russian-Norwegian joint venture Arctic Bulk AG) Atomflot, and the Northern Sea Route Administration in Moscow.
