Russian icebreakers end passenger service

Two Russian icebreakers, the Akademik Ioffe and Akademic Sergey Vavilov, will no longer be available for passenger cruises. The two ships were being operated by One Ocean Expeditions for polar cruises with the permission of the government of Russia. However, in May 2019, Russia seized the ships without prior notice (Aug. ’19, pg. 4). In January 2020, One Ocean declared bankruptcy.

At press time, both ships were dry-docked in Russia, being upgraded for a return to strictly scientific service.