KALININGRAD, June 15 /TASS/. It may take several months to investigate the circumstances of the STS Kruzenshtern’s collision with two Icelandic Coast Guard patrol ships in Reykjavik port, Irina Obraztsova, a spokesperson for the Baltic State Academy of Fishing Fleet, told TASS on Monday.

Barque Kruzenshtern belongs to the Kaliningrad State Technical University.

Obraztsova said independent experts would assess the damage after The Kruzenshtern returns to Murmansk port. The two Icelandic vessels are to undergo similar procedures.

"The barque is currently entering the Atlantic and is expected to arrive in Murmansk on June 22," Obraztsova said.

The damaged part of the bowsprit was dismantled but that did not belittle the ship’s seafaring properties," she said adding that the repairs were scheduled for mid-July during a call to Kaliningrad, Russia’s westernmost territory.

The incident took place at 16:27 local time on June 11 when the ship was on her way out of Reykjavik Harbour where the STS Kruzenshtern had been docked for a few days prior to the collision. The local port’s pilot was onboard the Kruzenshtern when it ran into trouble. The ship was led about by two Icelandic tug-boats.

It is rather difficult to moor a ship with the help of tug-boats like in the Kruzenshtern’s case. It requires great experience from all the services, Obraztsova went on to say. "The barque’s captain, Mikhail Novikov, has doubtless experience and qualifications," she said.

The Kruzenshtern was built in 1926 in Bremen, Germany, and was given to the Russians at the end of the Second World War. It now sails out of the Russian port of Kaliningrad (former Koenigsberg), which used to be home to the German philosopher Immanuel Kant.