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After saying that I wished to know more about this topic, Alex Eremenko
kindly replied-

>After I touched this topic, I soon realize
>that this can be almost completely unknown
>in the West. For example, my Encyclopaedia
>Brittanica of 1960 does not mention ANY Soviet
>activities in the Arctic. Unfortunately all I read
>on the subject, I read while in Soviet Union, that is
>20-30 years ago, so I can rely on my memory only.
>If there is interest to it, I can try to find
>some literature here in the US.

If you can find any such references, Alex, I would be most grateful, if
only to fill in my immense area of ignorance about this matter.

He added, about vessels that were forced to overwinter-

>They had several harbors on the way to spend the winter.
>Dikson and Dudinka are the names that first come to my mind.

Does that imply that the fresh water of the Yenisei river was sufficiently
ice-free, even in the depths of Russian winter? Such a question betrays my
ignorance of Siberian geography, I fear.

What happens to the crews over the winter?

I bet that's a trade that Doug Royer is pleased not to be in!

Another question that I wonder about is this-

With the great draught of modern shipping, are there sufficiently deep
passages South of the islands such as Novaya Zemlya, Severnaya Zemlya,
Novosibirskiye Ostrova? Or must the trade route pass North of, or perhaps
through, these island groups? I recall that in Nansen's passage in "Fram"
he had to compromise, finding an ice-free path near the mainland,
presumably the result of the warmed freshwater summer outflow from the
river drainage. On the other hand, near the mainland he was bedevilled by
shoals and islands, presumably the result of that same outflow from those
great rivers. How does the modern trade route solve those problems, I
wonder?

Nuclear power does seem appropriate for an icebreaker, which requires
immense driving power, consuming great quantities of fuel, yet needs to
remain in non-stop action through the summer season without the need to
return to port to refuel.

George.

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