According to information from the Russian scientists included in the team on board, the ice conditions in the eastern part of the NSR at the end of July were one of the two worst on record since 1948. Fortunately, at the time the Kandalaksha crossed the Bering Strait in mid-August, a persistent cyclone over the Arctic Ocean generated a steady southwesterly wind, which drove out almost all ice from the ordinary NSR region off the Siberian coast. Because one of the primary objectives of the voyage was to evaluate the ship performance under severe natural conditions in the Arctic Ocean, the mission team decided to take a northerly course to find appropriate ice conditions for the ship performance test. The route taken by the Kandalaksha after passing the Bering Strait is indicated in Figure 5.2. In Figure 5.3, a photograph shows the Kandalaksha performing a speed test in ice.
Figure 5.2 Route of the Kandalaksha and test sites: Sites A-D
(Numbers indicated along the route are dates, indicating the position of the ship at noon (ship time) on the date shown.)
Figure 5.3 The Kandalaksha performing a speed test in ice, August 22, 1995
The trend in hourly average speeds is illustrated in Figure 5.4. Although the Kandalaksha was equipped with two engines, to save fuel costs only one engine was in operation under normal conditions. Under single-engine operation in calm seas, the ship speed was approximately 12 knots; with two engines, the speed was boosted to 14 knots. The total sailing distance from Yokohama to Kirknes was 6,887 NM, and the ship run at an average speed of 11 knots. At Site A (near Wrangel Island: as shown in Fig. 5.2) in ice-infested waters, the Kandalaksha attained a speed of 8-10 knots in the first half of the area with relatively low ice concentration and 2-4 knots in the latter half with high ice concentration.
