Meeting of two legends!

On February 6, at around 20:00 Moscow time, at coordinates of 44°57′ south latitude and 14°39′ east longitude in the South Atlantic, a historic meeting took place between the scientific research vessel “Akademik Fedorov” and the rowboat “AKROS” skippered by Fedor Konyukhov.

This meeting is very important for us! It was prepared over three days by a large team of people across different continents.

The research vessel “Akademik Fedorov” left Cape Town (South Africa) on February 3 in the direction of Antarctica. The expedition headquarters of Fedor Konyukhov noticed the movement of the vessel on the Vessel Finder website. At that time, Fedor Konyukhov was in the epicenter of a Force 10 storm and had reported damage to navigation and communication systems.

Considering the fact that the research vessel was moving south towards Antarctica and was supposed to pass in a couple of days near the area where the AKROS rowing boat was located, the project team had the idea to request the crew to pass near Fedor Konyukhov’s boat and make photo and video documentation of the rower in the South Atlantic.

A corresponding letter was sent to the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) owner of the vessel. The management of these institution supported our request and approved the vessels’ approach.

And now we can all see the AKROS rowboat in the vastness of the South Atlantic at 45 degrees south latitude.

In addition to photo and video documentation, the research vessel’s crew, at our request, conducted a communication and radio check with Fedor Konyukhov.

According to the results: the AKROS boat is visible on ship’s radars, the AIS system is working, the VHF radio station is also working – the connection is stable. Fedor Konyukhov is on deck in good spirits, waving his hand.

Fedor Konyukhov informed the ship’s captain that he intends to continue the voyage across the South Atlantic and the Indian Ocean towards Australia. He thanked the crew of the “Akademik Fedorov” for their moral support and well wishes for the success of his expedition. He was especially pleased to hear Russian speech on the radio for the first time in 63 days of his voyage.

This unique meeting in the “roaring forties” latitudes became possible thanks to the coordinated work of the crew of the “Akademik Fedorov” under the direct leadership of the captain – Amosov Yuri, as well as the Deputy Head of the 70th Russian Antarctic Expedition (RAE) Alexander Nikolaev.

In Moscow, the meeting in the ocean was organized by the entire headquarters team, led by expedition headquarters project coordinator for the Arctic and Antarctic, Nikolai Savelyev, founder of the Polar Travel Club.

To everyone who doubted and could not believe that Fedor Konyukhov, at the age of 73, has been rowing alone for 63 days in the South Atlantic towards his dream, demonstrating incredible resilience and exceptional survival skills at sea — the photos and videos from the “Akademik Fedorov” crew are proof.

There is a lot of material, and we will gradually publish it on the project’s platforms as the crew continues to send photos and videos to the headquarters in Moscow.

The route map is here.