Krasin icebreaker

The 1976-built MS Krasin ("ледокол Красин") is an icebreaking vessel owned and operated by Far East Shipping Company (FESCO/Дальневосточное морское пароходство) - a Russian shipowner, part of FESCO Group.

The vessel (IMO number 7359644, Helsinki Shipyard/hull number 400) is currently Russia-flagged (MMSI 273143900) and homeported in Vladivostok.

One of the Russian icebreaker ships, Krasin - together with its sister Admiral Makarov (launched 1975) is the biggest in the FESCO fleet of all four icebreakers. This ship is named after Leonid Borisovich Krasin (1870-1926) - a USSR diplomat and one of Bolshevik Russia's leaders.

During "Operation Deep Freeze" (2004-2005), the US Antarctic Program hired the Krasin ship as a secondary vessel (together with the USCG icebreaker Polar Star) to help clear a path to the McMurdo Station (a US research station in Antarctica, located on Ross Island).

On December 21, 2004, the icebreaker departed Vladivostok, arriving at the Ross Sea ice edge a month later. Krasin departed the Ross Sea on February 9 and arrived back in Vladivostok on March 5, 2005.

The Krasin icebreaker's itinerary program offers escort services (together with the Makarov ship) for large-capacity crude oil tankers between Sakhalin-I (oil and gas project on Sakhalin Island) and De-Kastri Oil Terminal (Khabarovsk Krai, Sea of Okhotsk).

During summer months, the ship provides Northern Sea Route escorts to the Russian Arctic's eastern sector servicing the terminals in North Chukchi Sea (aka Chukotka Sea). In March 2005, the FESCO company signed a multi-year government contract for the Krasin icebreaker to support offshore oil rig operations in Okhotsk Sea.

Krasin icebreaker vessel details

FESCO is the biggest icebreaker-ship operator in Far East Russia. The Russian Federation government transferred 4 ice-breaking vessels to the company. FESCO's fleet, along with Krasin, also includes the diesel-powered icebreakers Admiral Makarov, Kapitan Khlebnikov and Magadan.

The four ships provide assistance in the ice-covered waters of the Russian far-eastern seas and the Arctic. However, their deployment is not limited to these sectors and covers areas from the Eastern Arctic region down to the coast of Antarctica.

The vessel has 2 dining rooms, Sauna, 1 swimming pool (indoor, heated), 1 elevator, 1 helipad (helicopter deck).

• Max Draft: 11 m (36 ft)
• Displacement tonnage: 20250 tons
• DWT Deadweight tonnage: 7554 tons
• Powerplant: 9x Wartsila-Sulzer 12ZH40 / 48 (3380 kW output each, or 30,420 MW combined power output)
• Propulsion: 3x Stromberg DC motors (8820 kW output each, or 26,460 MW combined power output)

Note: In the case of poor AIS coverage, tracking the vessel's current location will be impossible. You can see CruiseMapper's list of all icebreakers and ice-breaking research ships in the "itinerary" section of our Icebreakers hub. All states and their fleets are listed there.