The 99-year-old four-masted steel bark Sedov is sailing home by an unusual route. She is sailing North from Vladivostok  and transiting the Arctic by the Northern Sea Route to reach her home port of Kaliningrad. Crossing the Arctic will be the culmination of a grand voyage of more than 25,000 nautical miles sailed by the Sedov since November 1, 2019. 

“Following a detailed study of possible alternatives for the bark’s continued sailing, we consider it relevant to propose that the Sedov completes its expedition with a voyage across the Northern Sea Route from the east to west,” said Ilya Shestyakov, the head of Russia’s Federal Agency for Fishery, which operated the ship. “We believe that such a voyage will have a great symbolic and practical effect.”

The ship is expected to reach its homeport of Kaliningrad on November 15 this year. On its Arctic expedition, the vessel is due to visit the ports of Pevek, Sabetta, and Murmansk. It is also expected to make a halt in the archipelago of Novaya Zemlya. An icebreaker will accompany the ship to ensure its safety during its voyage through the Arctic.

Sedov was built as the  Magdalene Vinnen II in 1921. She is one of the largest traditional sailing ships in operation. Today, Sedov is a sail training vessel, training cadets from the universities of Kaliningrad, Saint Petersburg, and Astrakhan, Russia.