Professor Molchanov (ship)

The sea expeditionary research vessel Professor Molchanov of the Akademik Shuleikin class with ice reinforcement was built in Finland for the Soviet Union and launched on December 28, 1982.

From January 26, 1983 to September 7, 1991, the vessel was engaged in scientific research in the polar latitudes, making 34 Soviet-flagged campaigns, including three global hydrological expeditions under the direction of the Murmansk Hydrometeorological Center ^[1] :

• April 28, 1984 - June 10, 1984 along the route: the North Sea , the Norwegian Sea , the northeastern region of the Atlantic Ocean , the Barents Sea .
• September 19, 1989 - November 30, 1989 along the route: the Greenland Sea , the North Atlantic , the Norwegian Sea , the Barents Sea
• December 12, 1989 - February 22, 1990 on the route: the Norwegian Sea , South Atlantic , Barents Sea , North Sea , North Atlantic .

The ship was reconstructed in 2000.

On August 5, 2011 for the first time the ship set off on a 45-day expedition within the framework of the project “Following the Trails of the coast ” from Arkhangelsk on the route: Arkhangelsk - Pevek - Fr. Wrangel - Pevek - Arkhangelsk ^[2] .

Starting from 2012, annual expeditions are carried out on board the ship within the framework of the NArFU Floating University project.

June 1, 2012, “Professor Molchanov” with a team that included 50 students and staff of the Northern (Arctic) Federal University named after MV Lomonosov (NArFU) , Moscow State University , St. Petersburg State University , RSHU , GOIN, ​​AARI, VNIRO, etc. set sail (project “Floating University”) along the route: Arkhangelsk - White Sea - Barents Sea - Spitsbergen - Franz Josef Land - Novaya Zemlya - Pechora Sea - White Sea - Arkhangelsk ^[3] .

In August 2011, according to the materials of the prosecutor's check, a criminal case was initiated against the head of the Murmansk Territorial Administration for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring, in the operational management of which the vessel is located. According to the prosecutor's office , the meteorological service of the region was checked at the request of the chairman of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation about the unlawful transfer of vessels under the operational management of the Murmansk Department of Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring.

According to the information of the prosecutor's office, since 1997 ^{[4] the} head of the Murmansk department of Roshydromet for the past 14 years (as of 2011) has leased the scientific vessel Professor Molchanov in the lease, and instead of studying the Arctic latitudes and transmitting information about the weather in the region , made cruises with Norwegian tourists, as a result of which the budget was damaged, according to press reports, in the amount of almost 50 million rubles ^[5] .

On September 25, 2012, the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation reported that the Prosecutor's Office of the Murmansk region sent a criminal case to court against the head of the regional department of hydrometeorology, Anatoly Semenov, who is accused of committing a crime under part 1 of art. 286 of the Criminal Code (abuse of power).

It has been established that since 1982 this organization has been operating the research vessel Professor Molchanov for hydro-meteorological measurements in the Arctic latitudes and determining the weather.

In 1997, the agreement between the Murmansk UGMS and the Cypriot company concluded a bareboat charter agreement for this ship for a period of three years. At the same time, the institution did not have the right to independently rent out federal property.

The term of chartering the vessel was repeatedly illegally extended until September 2011. A foreign company used the vessel to organize tourist trips to the Arctic.

The funds received from the tenant were not transferred to the federal budget, but were credited to the account of the State Institution “Murmansk UGMS” and were spent by Semenov at his own discretion. According to the investigation, as a result of illegal actions of Semenov, the federal budget suffered damage amounting to over 80 million rubles.

- In the Murmansk region, a criminal case has been filed with the court against the head of the regional department of hydrometeorology, accused of causing damage in the amount of more than 80 million rubles. // News of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation (09/25/2012)

Information on how much money was allocated from the federal budget for the maintenance of the vessel and the salary of the crew, the General Prosecutor's Office does not provide.

According to the director of the P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Robert Nigmatulin , the day of the trip of the research vessel Akademik Mstislav Keldysh costs $ 20,000 a day only for fuel and crew salary, and the expedition can continue for 60 days 18 million rubles per year ^[6] . In 2012, “Akademik Mstislav Keldysh” due to insufficient funding was handed over to the management of the institute in freight ^[7] .

Passengers with ocean views: one-room cabin No. 513 - Suite (23.2 m²), No. 510, 517 (two-room) - Superior (15.8 m²), as well as 12 doubles with private facilities and 9 doubles without amenities and 2 triple without conveniences, restaurant, 2 bars, library, lecture hall, sauna, satellite telephone and fax system, doctor’s office, ambulatory and 5 Zodiac motorboats . ^[eight]

The twin vessels of the vessel “Professor Molchanov” are:

• lead ship "Akademik Shuleikin",
• "Arnold Weimer",
• "Academician Gamburtsev",
• " Academician Golitsyn ",
• "Professor Molchanov" ,
• "Professor Multanovsky",
• "Geologist Dmitry Nalivkin",
• "Professor Polshkov",
• "Professor Khromov",
• " Academician Shokalsky "

• Photo of the ship "Professor Molchanov" - photo chronicle of the Arkhangelsk region. // pictures29.ru
• Information about the vessel "Professor Molchanov." // data.oceaninfo.ru
• Technical characteristics of the vessel "Professor Molchanov." Site of the International Travel Club "Allinur" // alpindustria.ur.ru
• Dmitry Vysotsky . Scientific vessel "Professor Molchanov" 14 years old tourist. // vesti.ru (August 4, 2011)
• Project 637, type "Akademik Shuleikin". // fleetphoto.ru