Radioactivity

The Russian nuclear-powered container ship Sevmorput, which lost half of her propeller last year on her way to Antarctica, has just left St Petersburg. She is carrying 1400 tonnes of equipment for the Rooppur nuclear power plant in Bangladesh. The heavy packages will be unloaded in Vladivostok and then transferred to a conventional vessel bound for Bangladesh. The Sevmorput will use the north-east sea route. According to the press release from Atomflot, a subsidiary of Rosatom, “the crew is ready for the task at hand, the technical characteristics of the vessel will allow her to travel the entire route without the help of an icebreaker.” “Timely delivery of equipment and materials for nuclear power plants under construction is crucial for the timely and cost effective accomplishment of our projects.” The St Petersburg-Vladivostok journey is expected to take 25 days.

Only in French.

This Friday 22 January 2021 is a great day. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (1) enters into force.

On 7 July 2017, 122 countries adopted this Treaty. In accordance with its Article 15, it enters into force 90 days after the deposit of the 50th instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession. Honduras was this 50th categorical opponent to atomic weapons. All the nuclear powers have withdrawn from the adoption Conference and some of them, France, the United States of America and the United Kingdom, are openly hostile to it.

Press release n°9 – 11:20 am

The atomic container ship Sevmorput anchored at 10:20 French time in the Bay of Neva in front of St. Petersburg with her 2 cut down blades propeller, 97 crew members and technicians and without her captain. She had left St. Petersburg for Antarctica on October 5, 2020 with a new 4-blades propeller and 5000 tons of general cargo intended for the reconstruction of the Vostok scientific station. In September, she had unloaded in St. Petersburg 5000 tons of sea products from Kamchatka via Murmansk. The prestigious mission of the Sevmorput was to achieve a world premiere, the crossing from the North Pole to the South Pole by a nuclear-powered cargo ship.

Press release n°8

After the successive mobilisation of the deep-sea tugs Abeille Bourbon and Abeille Liberté, the Abeille Languedoc, also chartered by the French Navy, will take over. She is at this time off Le Touquet and is heading towards the damaged Russian atomic cargo ship to escort her to Dunkirk and the limit of the separation of the coastal waters with Belgium. This continuous and reinforced surveillance of the Sevmorput is all the more essential as maritime traffic in the Channel is intense. On the map, oil, chemical and gas tankers are shown in red. Click on the map.

Press release n°7

Click on the map.

The Abeille Bourbon is the deep-sea tug chartered by the French Navy to cover the Bay of Biscay and the waters off Brittany.

The Polarstern is a German government research vessel, able to carry out sampling and analysis at sea of chemical or radioactive residues.

The other tugs or special craft are not yet identified.

14:00 (English version) – Press release n°6

On Friday, December 18, at 15:40, the atomic ship Sevmorput on her way to the European continent suddenly changes her course towards the Moroccan coast. The next day, Saturday 19th in the morning, she resumed her course northwards. But late this Saturday afternoon, she headed back again for the Moroccan coast. This uncertain path reflects the embarrassment of the Russian shipowner Rosatom and the failure of talks with Morocco, Spain and the United Kingdom (Gibraltar) likely to accomodate the ship in distress in a port or a place of refuge.

2:00 pm – press release n°5

From 14 December 2020 at 16:00, when she was off Western Sahara, until yesterday at 22:00, the atomic ship Sevmorput followed an atypical path suggesting difficulties and delays on board. Yesterday, from 20:28 to 20:41, a helicopter from the Salvamento Maritimo sea rescue agency hovered over the ship. The commander of the Sevmorput, who reportedly showed symptoms of meningitis, is said to have been evacuated to the hospital in Las Palmas. There were 98 crew members and technicians on board the ship until then. After this evacuation, the Sevmorput resumed a linear path towards the European continent. In addition to the technical problems, there are now also health problems.

Press release n°4
English version: December 15, 2020

The last of the nuclear-powered cargo ships, the Russian Sevmorput, is in breakdown (see previous press releases*). On her way to Antarctica to unload heavy loads for the extension of the Vostok research station, the Sevmorput was forced to turn back. Victim of propeller or propeller shaft damage, she returns to St. Petersburg at reduced speed after having been wandering round and round for several weeks off the coast of Angola and Congo Brazzaville. Angola and South Africa were reportedly opposed to the Sevmorput‘s entry into their ports to carry out repairs in a shipyard.

  11:40 am – Press release n°3

Robin des Bois wrote yesterday to Rosatom, owner of the Sevmorput. Thanks to Rosatom for his reply: