AKADEMIK B.PETROV

General information

Course/Position

Latest news

Russian research ship monitored while at slow speed near critical infrastructure

The "Akademik Boris Petrov" set off from Kaliningrad on Aug 20, 2025, enroute to the North Sea. According to a statement from the Russian Ministry of Science, ten Russian students are on board. As part of their studies, the scientific team will explore areas with dangerous geological processes on the seabed and map the Kara and Laptev Seas, according to the official statement from Moscow. The research shipp was noticed as it approached the German Economic Zone (EEZ) near Adlergrund off Rügen on Aug 21. Instead of its normal cruising speed of ten to 12 knots, the "Akademik Boris Petrov" crept through the corridors between the wind farms at seven to eight knots. The Federal Police therefore initially sent the patrol vessel "Bad Bramstedt" to observe the research vessel. Later, the "Neustadt" took over near Fehmarn. No abnormalities were observed during the passage from Adlergrund to the exit from the German EEZ. There were also no findings of irregularities regarding the speed. The "Akademik Boris Petrov" operates under the control of the state-run Shirshov Institute in Moscow. In 2022, it attracted attention in the Netherlands because it also sailed there at a conspicuously slow speed along wind farms and submarine cables. Suspicions of spying on critical infrastructure were raised. The ship reached the Skagerrak on Aug 22 and was transiting off the Norwegian coast on Aug 25, destined to Murmansk. The transit through the Fehmarn Belt was a considerable detour for the 'Akademik Boris Petrov'. The much shorter route leads through the Øresund, past Copenhagen. Sensitive military installations and numerous cables are located underwater in the Fehmarn Belt and Great Belt. It was unclear whether the research vessel surveyed the seabed and identified the location of submarine cables leading to wind farms. Report with photos: https://www.kn-online.de/schleswig-holstein/ostsee-bei-kiel-windparks-im-visier-bundespolizei-beschattet-russisches-schiff-VIZUS4NECNCCJO6DEFW5GUZM6M.html

Research vessel saved skipper of capsized German yacht - another man remained missing

On Aug 12, 2018, at 2.30 p.m. the "Akadaemik Boris Petrov" saved the skipper of the German 12.m-yacht "Godewind" which had capsized between Poland and Kaliningrad about 32 miles off the Hel peninsula in 6-8 Beeaufort wind and wave heights between five and eight meters. He had managed to hold himself in the rig, while a second man was lost over board. All attempts to save him failed, and finally the yacht was disabled by a rope in the propeller. A search by helicpter and ships from Poland and Russia was suspended on Aug 14. The "Godewind" was later towed to Gdansk for repairs.

India Frees Russian Ship After 2 Years of arrest in Mumbai

December 17 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian research vessel that had been arrested in India for two years has been released, the Russian consul to Mumbai said on Monday. The Akademik Boris Petrov has already left the port of Mumbai and is on its way to a service base, consul Alexei Novikov said. "The ship has been in India for about two years. It was arrested over a lawsuit from its Indian agent,” he said. “On December 10, the High Court of Mumbai ruled to lift the arrest and on December 13 the vessel left Mumbai." The Akademik Boris Petrov had been conducting research off the Goa coast when, two years ago, its Indian agent claimed that the Russian Academy of Sciences' V. I. Vernadsky Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry Institute, which owned the ship, had not made the contract payment. The vessel was then arrested.