British sailboat detained in Kara Sea
A British sailboat with a crew of three were detained and expelled from Russia after a failed attempt to sail the North-East passage.
The sailboat was discovered on their return after having sailed nearly the whole route from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. They were 10 miles short of their goal when encroaching ice forced them to turn back, Sundaysun reports.
The sailboat was discovered in the Kara Sea by an airplane from FSB’s Border Guard Service and escorted to Murmansk by a coast guard vessel, TV Murman reports.
The boat’s captain, 71-year-old Jeffrey Allison, was fined 2000 rubles and his visa was revoked. He will not be granted a new visa to Russia for five years.
In August, A small Norwegian sailboat was detained in Russia’s East Siberia Sea by border guards, BarentsObserver reported. The crew indented to sail around the North Pole. They started in Vardø, Norway’s easternmost town in the end of July and sailed all the way to the Russia’s Fareastern coast without going through the mandatory border and customs control in Murmansk port.
