The abandoned Russian cruise ship that’s roaming international waters

Source: http://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/1...tional-waters/



A Russian cruise ship has been drifting in the North Atlantic since January. This was after breaking free from a towing line while it was being delivered from Canada to a scrap yard located in the Dominican Republic.

The MV Lyubov Orlova had been a 1976 Yugoslavia ice-strengthened Maria Yermolova class cruise ship. It was mainly used for Antarctic cruises.

After it was taken out of service in 2010, the ship has sat in St. John’s, Newfoundland, for around two years.

The ship was withdrawn from service and was filled with issues, and the ship eventually turned into a floating platform in the North Atlantic Ocean in 2013.

Until recently, the ship was believed to have sunk. In 2013, the lost ship left Canada heading towards the Dominican Republic to be scrapped, yet the towing cable snapped a day later. The ship escaped once again after it had been secured by a supply vessel on the date of January 31st.

It would soon drift into international waters. Transport Canada claimed they were no longer responsible for the ship and there was no chance of it going back to Canadian jurisdiction.

For the time being, according to a document that was from a US intelligence agency, being obtained by the AFP, the abandoned ship had been recently spotted around 1,300 nautical miles from the coast of Ireland, and is drifting in the direction of Europe.


Lyubov Orlova

The offshore supply ship Atlantic Hawk had a 157-tonne constant bollard pull rating. This was under contract by Husk Energy and had been tasked with regaining control of the drifting ship.

This would be a risk to the gas and oil operations inside the region. On February 1, 2013, Transport Canada declared that on January 31 Atlantic Hawk had successfully gained control of Lyubov Orlova.

Even so, once the ship was in international waters, Transport Canada chose to cut her loose. They said that the Lyubov Orlova no longer posed a threat to the safety of the offshore oil installations, their marine environment or personnel.

The ship has drifted inside of the international waters and with the predominant winds and current patterns, it’s unlikely that the ship will float back into Canadian jurisdiction.

This was stated by the department.


Lyubov Orlova derelict dockside in St. John’s, 2012

The ship has been located again, on February 4, around 250 nautical miles east of St. Johns and drifting in a northeasterly direction. This was around 50 nautical miles out of Canada’s territorial waters.

The ship could end up anywhere from Western Africa to the Norwegian Arctic, or it could get stuck in between the North Atlantic Gyre.

Transport Canada repeated that the owner of the ship is still responsible for the ships movements, and measures were taken to monitor the position of the drifting vessel.


Motor Vessel Lyubov Orlova and it’s lifeboats; the first one had a two-cyllinder Diesel engine which was being repaired by the russian crew.

On the date of February 23, stated by the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, Lyubov Orlova was seen around 1300 nautical miles away from the Irish coast.

On February 28, the ship had been the subject of news reports in Ireland and Iceland, and a caution to smaller ships had been issued. The Irish media, on March 1 2013, reported that there was a signal from the ship’s emergency position.


Despite being painted dark blue, M / V Lyubov Orlova’s red star can still be seen in the front …

An EPIRB starts its transmission only when the device is exposed to water. This indicating radio beacon (ERIPB) had been received from 700 nautical miles off the coast of Kerry.

This is leading experts to theorize that the ship might have sunk. The Irish Air Corps had been expected to continue to monitor in the region.