Russian-flagged cruise ship Igor Farkhutdinov (IMO 8714384) became stuck in thick ice off the coast of Japan earlier this week. She had 127 passengers and 42 shipping containers on board at the time.
The vessel had been en route from Shikotan island, administered by the Russian Federation as part of Yuzhno-Kurilsky District of Sakhalin Oblast, to the Sakhalin port of Korsakov on February 5. When exiting the Kunashirsky Strait near the Japanese city of Mombetsu the ship met dense ice up to 1.5 meters thick, according to the Sakhalin government. Currently the vessel is trying to navigate through the icy waters. The ship is not in any immediate danger.
“We expect that the ice situation will improve today, with the tide and a change in the wind direction, enabling the ship to escape the ice and arrive in Korsakov on February 9,” said Sergey Kondrashin, General Director of the maritime company Sakhalin – Kuriles. Sakhalin said that if the situation deteriorated an icebreaker from Vladivostok was at the company’s disposal to assist.
1991-built, Russia-flagged, 4,575 gt Igor Farkhutdinov is owned and managed by Sakhalin-Kurily JSC of Kholmsk, Sakhalinskaya Oblast, Russia.