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Russian yacht got stranded in the Bermuda Triangle

The yacht was struck by lightning in a powerful thunderstorm on July 13. As a result, almost all navigation systems went out of order

SOCHI, July 16 (Itar-Tass) — A Russian yacht which is making a trip around the world has got stranded in the Bermuda Triangle in the Atlantic Ocean. Harsh weather conditions in the area which has a bad reputation with seamen are preventing the crew of the Sochi-registered Scorpius from reaching their next destination – Iceland, Anna Subbotina, the expedition’s spokesperson, told Itar-Tass on Monday.

The yacht was struck by lightning in a powerful thunderstorm on July 13. As a result, almost all navigation systems went out of order. Captain Sergei Nizovtsev who had a radio contact on Monday said that after the storm the onboard equipment and satellite telephones were operating with interferences while the Internet connection was disrupted completely. All the crew members were safe and sound.

“Strong winds are randomly changing the speed and direction of oceanic currents, creating whirlpools in some places. Sometimes, reverse currents slows down the yacht’s movement. Even engines working to full capacity cannot help,” Nizovtsev explained.

GLONASS is the only working navigation system onboard the Scorpius. It shows that the yacht is located at 27 degrees 9 minutes of northern latitude and 64 degrees 50 minutes of western longitude.

Nizovtsev said there was no panic onboard. The crew doesn’t believe in legends about mysterious disappearances of ships and aircraft in the Bermuda Triangle. However, some unusual phenomena could be seen in the atmosphere during the thunderstorm on July 13: vertical clouds growing from water which looked like a wall of fog and huge shining circles which appeared and disappeared over the ocean.

A triangular area between the Bermuda Islands, Florida and the Island of Puerto-Rico also known as the Bermuda Triangle is a place with extremely complex and changeable weather conditions characterized by sharp temperature drops, powerful storms and hurricanes.