The \"Krasin\" Has Done Its Duty

The Russian ice-breaker "Krasin" has opened the way for the US tanker "Paul Buck" to the moorage of the US Antarctic Station "McMurdo".

Aboard the tankers are 19 thousand tons of diesel fuel for the"McMurdo" polar research station.

The 13-mile-long passage to the pier through the ice channel took less time than estimated.

Unloading the tanker will take at least three days, after which the ice-breaker will lead the tanker back through the channel to the clear waters of the Ross Sea and then take the US hydrographic ship "Natanell Palmer" to the Station pier.

After that it will be the turn of the US container vessel with food supplies, medications and other cargoes vital for the life of the American polar explorers.

The "Krasin" left the port of Vladivostok for Antarctica in aid of the explorers of the US "McMurdo" Antarctic Station on December 21, 2004. The expedition to the shores of the South Pole has been undertaken under orders of the Government of Russia, after US authorities requested Russia to give aid to the polar explorers of the US Station.

The "McMurdo" Station is the biggest research ground on-shore of the Ross Sea.