MURMANSK, August 7. /TASS/. Russia's well-known traveler Fyodor Konyukhov returned to Murmansk aboard the 50 Let Pobedy (50 Years of Victory) nuclear-powered icebreaker after almost a three-week drift on the world's first single polar station near the North Pole, which was a new world record, the communications department of the nuclear fleet authority, Atomflot, said.

"Famous traveler Fyodor Konyukhov has returned to Murmansk after almost 21 days of drifting on a single ice floe," the communications department said. "He has arrived aboard the 50 Let Pobedy nuclear-powered icebreaker, after having set a new world record for a single stay on an ice floe near the North Pole."

According to the traveler, during the expedition the weather was very harsh: rain, wind and fog; the sun came out only once. He highlighted the technological support for the expedition from Russia's nuclear authority, Rosatom. "It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say Rosatom's specialists of the Composite Division have made a significant contribution to the campaign's success. The Russian composite industry also has set a record, because the fiberglass and the carbon fiber used in the fairing design have passed successfully tests for strength in the harsh northern conditions," the release quoted Konyukhov as saying.

The 50 Let Pobedy icebreaker's Captain Ruslan Sasov told reporters that during several voyages Konyukhov had been taken to the location from where he was able to take off on a paraglider to the North Pole, they found an ice floe suitable for a single station, and then food was brought to the traveler. "The biggest task was to take him off the ice floe. When we were approaching the camp, the ice floe was already, so to say, floating independently. Imagine, water around, strong wind, 17-18 meters per second. At first, people who helped assemble the polar station, including tourists who were willing to help, disembarked from the ship onto the flow. We had only limited time, and within an hour we managed to evacuate quickly the polar station," the captain said.

About the record

Fyodor Konyukhov has set a world record of being at a single research polar station near the North Pole in terms of duration and covered distance. The traveler spent 20 days, 22 hours and 45 minutes alone on an ice floe, where he covered 239 km (149 miles). During the drift he made uniquely clean records of seismic activity on the Arctic Ocean floor, which will be studied at the laboratory of underwater research and testing technology.

The Mobiba Company's designers, led by Russia's Honored Inventor Alexey Sychev, used Rosnar R-536 tent to design Fyodor Konyukhov's SP-24 single polar station. In 2021, the world's first single drifting polar station is based on the Rosnar R-436 tent project and was upgraded in line with Konyukhov's suggestions. In creating the tents, the developer considered the experience of various polar expeditions and the operation of Soviet-time polar tents.