The catamaran of the Russian Ocean Road expedition around the world has been attacked by sharks. The crew managed to escape thanks to a dry cargo ship passing nearby. In this respect reported Yulia Kalyuzhnaya, general director of “Interfax” of the Tomsk branch of the Russian Geographical Society (LLP RGS).
“Last night at 19.00 Moscow time, several shark attacks were carried out on the catamaran, as a result of which the cylinders began to swell, the ship began to sink. The crew signaled SOS, a ship came to the rescue that would take the reconnaissance members to Brisbane, Australia, ”said Kalyuzhnaya.
The Russian Ocean Road expedition is organized by the Tomsk branch of the Russian Geographical Society “On the worldwide route of Russian sailors”. Its participants follow the route of the first worldwide Russian sailors of the 19th century, such as Ivan Kruzenshtern and Thaddeus Bellingshausen. Their route will begin on July 1, 2021 to St. Petersburg and they plan to complete it there on July 1, 2024.
According to Kalyuzhnaya, the expedition leader Evgeny Kovalevsky was on a French catamaran named trimaran captain Stanislav Berezkin and Vincent. No damage was done. The catamaran was lost; sank.
According to Kalyuzhnaya, despite the loss of the ship, Kovalevsky and Berezkin will continue the voyage. The French participant will remain in Australia. Kalyuzhnaya himself said that he would fly to Australia in search of a new ship.
INSIDE speech With socialbites.ca, the expedition leader Evgeny Kovalevsky confirmed his intention to continue the journey.
“We will do everything we can to continue the expedition. I am certain. We will come to Australia, looking for options. No money left. We will continue to think. Most importantly, the catamaran sank. He has his engine, chartplotter, generator, solar panels, all his tools, sleeping bags, food and water with him.”
At this time, the expedition members have already lost two ships. They will no longer be able to set the Guinness record and circumnavigate the planet in an inflatable ship. According to Kovalevsky, building a new catamaran is expensive and it is unclear whether it can be bought.
“Today we understand that there is no inflatable ship that can circumnavigate the planet without teasing the crew. But the main goal – to bypass the planet along the routes of the first Russian world tour of the 19th century – is still up to us, ”said Kovalevsky.
How the catamaran sank
In the Pacific Ocean, 835 kilometers southeast of Australia, on 4 September, glowing cigar sharks attacked the crew for the first time, damaging the ship’s port cylinder.
“On the night of September 4-5, on September 5 we managed to somehow neutralize a serious hole in the left tank, and then we continued on our way, partially submerging the stern of the left tank. The attacks continued. On the night of September 5-6, the hole turned out to be critical because it fell to the stern of the right balloon. The stern began to sink. He did not have a chance to live until the morning, ”said Kovalevsky.
After the second attack, the crew signaled SOS and the expedition’s coastal headquarters contacted Australian rescuers, and 45 minutes later a dry cargo ship bound for Shanghai left the catamaran.
“The catamaran began to sink before our eyes. If the cargo ship had not arrived so quickly, we would have turned around in three hours like the Titanic and stood upright on the bow rollers,” he said.
– Added the leader of the expedition in a conversation with socialbites.ca.
In March 2023, the sailing inflatable trimaran on the Russian Ocean Road left Concepción Bay and sailed across the Pacific Ocean towards Easter Island. On board were Kovalevsky, Berezkin, and sailor Yegor Muzileev and his dog Pasoka. On 16 March the weather began to deteriorate, the ship’s steering gear broke and control was lost. The crew signaled SOS and the expedition members were rescued by a Panamanian-flagged cargo ship. The trimaran was moored to the ship but broke off and sank with all her equipment and belongings.
After that, Kovalevsky and Berezkin came to Easter Island and inspected the catamaran of the Russian Dmitry Trubitsin, which was stored there. He swam to the island from America eight years ago. The ship was given a new name: Russian Ocean Road – TION. Travelers bought equipment and began preparations for the continuation of the expedition. Later, Russian Andrey Cherepanov and Chilean diver and underwater photographer Caleb Hara Garate joined the team. On 25 April the ship put to sea. Later, the French Vincent replaced Cherepanov in the team.
The expedition includes visiting French Polynesia, Tahiti, Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa, New Caledonia, Australia, Madagascar and Africa.
On August 18, Geographer’s Day, socialbites.ca published the diary that Kovalevsky kept during the expedition. There, the traveler talks about the people the team met on the islands and the previous shark attack.