MOSCOW, February 9. /TASS/. Andrey Tenitsky has been sailing the Vaygach nuclear-powered icebreaker for more than 20 years. There are only ten icebreaker captains in the world. Andrey lives in Murmansk. Twice a year, he leaves home for long voyages along the Northern Sea Route, where he leads caravans through ice. In the past, he could not imagine half of his life would be in the Arctic. We have spoken to the captain and learned how to manage an icebreaker and why he says the best icebreaker is the wind.

About Arctic

I don’t like the word "to conquer." Conquering is not about the Arctic. The Arctic requires work, friendship, respect, because it’s impossible to treat the mighty Arctic without respect. We are newcomers there, the region is a unique ecosystem, which must be cared. Come, destroy, conquer - this is not to be done here. This is a way to die and kill everything around. Any work, even on a mighty icebreaker, must be accurate here.

About sea and dreams

It’s only in books we read that the sea is romantic, but in reality working in the sea is tough. At first, I sailed the Atlantic, which is free from ice. I’ve seen ice only in the fridge, nowhere else. On the Baltic, from where I come, we do not have ice. I saw ice for the first time in the 2000s, when I was on an icebreaker.

For three times I told my self - I quit ships, wanted to drop the sea, and where am I now? Back in the sea (laughs).

About Northern Navy and civil fleet

I am a person of the old generation, my dad was a military. Back then, nobody asked: well, son what will you do? Just - move on to the military school, and that’s it. I joined it, graduated in 1985 - and strait to the Northern Fleet.

My dad used to serve at the Baltic Fleet, was the commander of a division of ships, our family name is rather known, and thus, not to let anyone say behind my back that I’ve been promoted, I left for the North. Back at the navy school I learned frosts here may be even minus 45 degrees. For us, wearing the Baltic overcoats, it was a shock. I was born in Baltiysk, studied in Kaliningrad - you understand what the weather there is like, and here - the Northern variant.

I served in the Armed Forces for 18 years. After the resignation, I wanted to change something in my life - to quit the fleet for another military structure, but when eventually I did quit, it didn’t work. I had to be waiting for too long, but I wanted to be busy right immediately, without waiting.

About interesting work

I was 35. It was the late 90s, I was looking for a job. With my striving for anything new and interesting, it was out of question to go to a bakery, or dairy, or to collect scrap metal. No, that’s not for me! I am not humanitarian, I am of an engineering structure. Imagine an engineer at a bakery? Well, I do realize how important bread is, but it’s dull to me. I must work where it’s interesting to me. No doubts! I went to a civil shipping company.

I applied to Atomflot (nuclear fleet authority) just incidentally, and began working as a communications engineer. In 2000, I went to an icebreaker as the fourth mate, then worked on, and then said I wanted to become the first mate.

In learning an icebreaker, the career progress is essential. Becoming the chief from the very beginning - not, it does not work this way. The icebreaker requires being studied, it’s not just a ship, it’s a nuclear facility, with a reactor. In addition to the regular responsibility for equipment, you receive the crazy nuclear energy responsibility. I am quite ambitious, and according to the military documents I had then, I could’ve fit civil positions as the head of a radio station, a navigator up to the captain. So here I am.

Ice and working in the Arctic

The Arctic has its bonuses: the polar bears, the walruses, the northern lights, and the ice. By the way, it may grow up very quickly especially when it’s young. Today, it’s 10cm thick, tomorrow it may be 15, and then 25, then 30-40. And this is the layer we have to handle.

I break the ice, the splinters move upward. We, those who’ve got used, are not afraid. But at times, I look at it wondering: "What a thing! Could jump on the deck!" I look around, and see everything is so solemn and magic. Though, honestly speaking, we do not pay much attention to it. Our work is far from arts. We are here to do the job, not to spread paints over canvas.

Wind is the best icebreaker

We say, the best icebreaker is the wind. What we are unable to do, even if all icebreakers are working at one point, the wind will manage. It may pull away, throw away, break, when it’s strong enough. And the ice! Imagine the ice of 1.5-2 meters, and the wind is breaking it. The wind blows, the ice begins moving as a billion tonnes of concrete. And those concrete layers are crawling on each other.

Though, when frosts are extremely low, to minus 55, then it’s still, no wind, the air is as if standing. And then, when the ship is breaking the ice, the steam goes up, the smoking light poles stretch upwards and remain there, not moving.

About a true icebreaker

Well, honestly, a true icebreaker does not move on ice, it prefer to move on water (laughs). To find cracks to follow. Why force the equipment, even huge, mighty equipment, why killing it. No way. Rather hold on a couple hours, I’d rather wait, simply because I know the stream will "do the job," some hole, some crack will appear, and in there I’ll go.

No icebreaker must just move straightforwardly, along one line, to break up the ice. What matters is the nature, the stream, the wind. Here you wait, here you hold, there push forward to manage, or even backwards to fit the schedule. There’s no breaking through the Arctic. It’s not about winning.

About situations in the Arctic

Managing an icebreaker is not just to make calculations. It’s something more precise. In case of any problems, my second thoughts prompt to me, and I go to the bridge well beforehand. If I know we will be crossing a tough-ice passage, then I want to control everything. Our strategies are like on a motorway: you know that you’ll cover a certain distance within a certain time, plus/minus jams.

I must read the ice, the weather. Without this, any super mathematician or any super physicist, who is unable to read the weather or the ice, to be friendly with them, will never move, will fail a task. The brains are working non-stop: what was here a week earlier, what winds, what streams?

We take old ice maps, study them. Here, the global movement is to here, now it’s frozen. On we work. The ice maps come from the headquarters - they send them online. Thus, I can see what was here a month earlier and what I can see now.

For example, a situation, where you sail, you are the leader. The icebreaker is the first, and it’s followed by a ship some three to ten cables (500-1,800m - TASS). We sail on, and here is the ice rock, the ice is hard, the rock is upwards, and apparently the ship behind me cannot stop at once. The ship may break, like a car on an icy road, but the ship is heavy, it carries cargo, it’s big, it may simply catch up with the icebreaker, no fun.

And I plead the Vaygach, asking the icebreaker like a human: "Oh, please, come on, come on!" We can see we are not stuck, we do move. The icebreaker shivers, I continue talking to it. That’s the only way!

About mooring a battleship

The Vaygach has experienced a unique operation - mooring in the open sea with a battleship to bunker fresh water. This is what they say, though I cannot see anything unique there. We have demonstrated that a nuclear icebreaker is capable of such things in addition to its main functions.

We were leading a Navy caravan after the East-2018 exercises. The task was to resupply fresh water to a ship in the caravan. For them, fresh water, for all vessels, both military and civil, is a big problem. They do not have the containers to fill and process good fresh water. And we have good mineral water - 600 tonnes. This is much water, and we have two desalination plants that boil this water every day - 60 tons each. Every day we boil 100 tonnes of water, so why not share it with the people if they need it. We gave 100-150 tonnes of water to the five-six ships and immediately had more water boiled.

About the crew

The crew is very important. One captain, even a superhero, is unable to do anything on his own. Normally, onboard the Vaygach are 82 people, but usually we have more - almost 100. Those are students. To teach people, you know. If not, then who will be working on the new icebreakers? From [the] Makarov (the Makarov University of Sea and River Fleet - TASS). So, people come, the equipment is modern and specific, and so we teach them. Some remain with us, just to replace those who quit, or retire, some we send to other icebreakers.

The main crew, which now is on the Vaygach, - we have been putting it together for about six or seven years. Crews get mixed, but the main part, 80%, remains. They must be preserved and kept. In some situations I fight for people, in others I help them out. In my opinion, people must be awarded for their accomplishments, though even with small awards. Those must be not necessarily money, just gratitude from the captain, from the management. I support this approach. Many of my people have been awarded.

This is very important, because, with the credits, the crew is working, not just carrying out the tasks. Every person is doing his job, at his level, and I see to it there’s no hostility, but understanding. The bridge understands the engine, and the engine understands the bridge - we do one job.

The crew must be friendly and tight, and then every member would be helpful in whatever tasks. Nobody has failed me even in tough situations. We do one job.

About family

I am always short of time to be with the family. I have been married for long, almost 35 years now. Her attitude to my work? I’ve been defending the homeland, now I simply work, doing what I must do at work.

Recently, with my wife we’ve seen the Sky movie. My story is similar to what they’ve showed there. How could it be otherwise? It’s the duty. Just the job. My job is such, and the family accepts it. My daughter is grownup, the granddaughter is growing, but they will not follow my profession. Women, I believe, have different tasks (laughs).