Great warships

Chapter 1263: If the distance is far, you will be frozen; if the distance is close, you will hit it

"Five hundred thousand dollars has arrived. Let's go back and pick up the Petrel." Zaitsev said to Ilovich.

"Okay, return!" Ilovich gave orders to the helmsman.

Woohoo!

The whistle sounded, the nuclear-powered icebreaker made a big circle, turned around and headed back. Sollot finally breathed a sigh of relief. Things were not as bad as he had imagined. It had only wasted two days. Now, when the Fifty Years Victory nuclear-powered icebreaker returned, they would be able to continue on their journey!
I hope there won’t be any other accidents!
On the Haiyan, everyone was looking forward to it, waiting and waiting. When they saw the icebreaker appearing in the darkness and heard the crackling sound of the ice breaking on the sea, they finally breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that things were going as planned and the icebreaker came to pick them up!

Woo, woo! The whistle blew, the two sides saluted each other, and the ice around the Petrel kept breaking. It was finally able to move!

The crew of the Haiyan were very excited to regain their freedom, and under the guidance of the icebreaker, they continued to move forward.

"It seems that sailing on the ice is not a big deal." The captain said, "As long as we have an icebreaker, the journey will be smooth. After this trip is successful, we can often use this route in the future."

After all, this saves time and distance. For them, the fuel cost for driving all the way is the biggest expense during the voyage. Saving distance saves fuel. As for the extra heating burned due to the cold, it is not worth mentioning at all. The energy consumed by navigation is the most.

On the icebreaker, Ilovich looked at the lights coming from behind several times, and couldn't help but speak again: "Zaytsev, are we going to divert the course of the ship behind us?"

"Of course not. If only one ship deviates from the course, what about the others? What if the remaining seven ask to rent other icebreakers to go back? We have to continue to reunite and move forward. We will take action when we reach the Northern Islands."

The Arctic route mainly passes through three archipelagos along the way. If you go from east to west, you will first pass through the New Siberian Islands, then the Northern Sea Archipelago, and finally the Novaya Zemlya, and then you will enter the Barents Sea.

When they arrived at the Northern Islands, they were right in the center of the route. At that time, it would be difficult for the enemy to move forward or backward. If they were trapped there, they would be really desperate.

"it is good."

Near the New Siberian Islands, Sollot became increasingly nervous as he watched his ship being frozen. Could there be any problem?

Fortunately, at the scheduled time, several beams of light appeared in the east, and the two ships finally returned on time!
"Friends, sorry to have kept you waiting. Let's continue on our way!" Zaitsev's voice came over the radio: "I hope the second half of our journey will be smoother! I hope no more companions will fall behind!"

The last time the Haiyan fell behind was because it was at the end of the formation, and in order to avoid collision, it kept a large distance from the ship in front. As a result, the ice in front froze before it could pass.

We must not make the same mistake this time! Therefore, the Haiyan followed closely behind the Fifty Years Victory icebreaker, the first one in line. As long as we follow the icebreaker closely, we will be fine!
Behind them, each ship shortened its sailing distance and formed a dense team.

The semi-submersible ship Docwise Pioneer was actually at the end, having just switched directions with the previous formation.

"Hurry up, hurry up, I don't want to be frozen!" Sollot kept urging the bearded captain.

"No, we are only one kilometer away now. It's too dangerous. If there is an accident ahead and we have to stop, we won't be able to stop and will crash into it."

The two got along well along the way, but now, Captain Beard had a conflict with Sollot for the first time.

"What kind of accident could happen? Like last time when we were frozen because we sailed too slowly? In the last accident, we had to pay the Russians an extra $500,000 in rescue fees. I don't want this to happen again." said Sollot.

"Last time, we were hit by a sudden cold snap. It was just an accident. But if we were driving faster..."

As he was speaking, the bearded captain heard the screams on the radio.

"Oh, damn, slow down!"

When he heard this, he was startled and shouted loudly: "Quick, reverse, full speed!"

Although it was not known which semi-submersible ship had the problem, the semi-submersible ships behind it became very nervous after hearing the news and began to reverse at full speed.

Only propeller reversal can provide deceleration force, it does not really mean reversing, but it is not easy to stop a huge thing weighing tens of thousands of tons at sea.

Boom!
There was a loud crash in front, followed by sparks from friction. In the dark polar night, the sparks were clearly visible.

Sollot's heart sank. It was over. Could something serious be happening?

Under the lights, the semi-submersible ship in front was approaching rapidly and was about to collide with it. The ship still could not stop, so the bearded captain could only give the order helplessly: "Full left rudder!"

The bow of the ship turned quickly and avoided the stern of the freighter in front. If it was on an ordinary sea, this traffic accident would have been successfully avoided. But it was not possible now, as it was in the Arctic Ocean!
Boom!
The next moment, the bow of the semi-submersible ship Docwise Pioneer hit the ice. As the bow was sloped, the bow of the semi-submersible ship began to rise and rushed towards the ice. Even the nose of the ship at the bottom of the bow only knocked open a piece of ice and continued to rush forward.

So, the semi-submersible Docwise Pioneer suddenly turned into an icebreaker, rushed onto the ice surface, and then crushed the ice surface with its own gravity.

Crack... bang! Crash!
After the bow of the ship crushed the ice, it fell heavily, splashing countless water. At this moment, Sollot was extremely nervous. He thought the ship was going to capsize. It feels so good to be alive!

However, after feeling thankful that he was still alive, Sollot became worried again: What happened to the entire formation?

What about the other ships?

"This is the Docwise Vanguard calling, what's the situation with the other ships?" Sollot quickly picked up the radio.

"The Taiyang is normal."

"Thank God, the Marlin is fine."

Sollot's heart slowly relaxed.

It looks like it was just a close call, but what about the sparks?

"Haiyan, Haiyan..." A somewhat frustrated voice came from the radio.

It’s the Petrel again!
Sollot became nervous: "What happened to the Petrel? Tell me!"

"The Haiyan and the Fifty Years Victory collided. The cargo on the Haiyan has tilted and needs to be reloaded..."

Generally speaking, the cargo ships further back in a formation are more likely to collide. Unexpectedly, this time it was the first and second ships in the formation that collided!

Sollot's face was extremely ugly. If I had known, I would not have rescued you! You guys freeze at sea first. When our seven semi-submersible ships reach the destination, it won't be too late to let the Fifty Years of Victory come to pick you up!
and many more!

The cargo on the Haiyan tilted, but what about the Fifty Years of Victory? Was there something wrong with this icebreaker?
If this icebreaker breaks down, we will be in big trouble!
Sollot picked up the phone nervously and called again.

"Calling Fifty Years of Victory, how are you doing?"

"We were hit right outside the nuclear reactor."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's heart sank.

This Haiyan was too much! It must have been left with a psychological trauma after being left behind last time, so this time it actually followed closely behind the Fifty Years of Victory, and it rear-ended it!

It swung the rudder before the rear-end collision, so it did not hit the Fifty Years Victory directly from the back, but instead scraped past it from the side, right at the nuclear reactor!

"Fifty Years of Victory, hold on, our ships are all insured, and the insurance will pay for the compensation this time!" No one knew what was going on in Sollot's mind. He didn't care about the progress or whether it could arrive on time, but he was concerned about the money first!

After all, they really have no money left and can’t borrow any more even if they want to!
All ships on the sea must be insured, and even the cargo must be insured every time it is transported. For example, ships transporting containers never dare to tie them up, in case the containers tilt. If they are not tied up, several containers will fall off, and if they are tied up, the whole ship will capsize. If they fall into the sea, the worst that can happen is that the insurance company will compensate.

This time too, the Fifty Years of Victory must not try to blackmail them again, the insurance company will pay for it this time!

"Received. In order to avoid any problems with the nuclear reactor, we have temporarily shut down the nuclear reactor and started the diesel generator to generate electricity. We may need to stay here for a few days."

"Got it..." Sollot suddenly realized what was happening when he heard this: "How many days will it take?"

"Yes, we need to thoroughly check the condition of the nuclear reactor and confirm that there are no problems before restarting it."

"Then what do we do?"

"You go contact the insurance company."

“Will the insurance company allow us to continue sailing?”

"The insurance company can compensate us, and then we'll have the money to repair it."

Sollot almost fainted. What did you say? We can't continue sailing?

On the nuclear-powered icebreaker, Zaitsev had a smile on his face: "This Haiyan really makes me suspect that it was arranged by someone else."

First, they fell behind and froze on the ice. Then they drove too fast and collided with their own icebreaker!
You know, a nuclear-powered icebreaker has a strong shell. After all, it has to rely on collisions and other methods to clear the way on the ice. How can it be afraid of a collision with a semi-submersible ship? It even has a double-hull structure, which is quite strong!

However, since the other party took the initiative to bump into us, we must take the opportunity to stop!
Anyway, the purpose is to delay time. If the car continues to run, the insurance company will not compensate, so the victim has to pretend to be seriously injured.

And the unfortunate Haiyan wanted to reload? After a few hours, the ice froze over. How could it continue to load?

Ilovich was also very excited: "Finally we can take a break, but it will be daybreak in a few hours. If our chimney doesn't emit smoke, they will easily find us."

Of course we are using nuclear power now. The nuclear reactor is fine, so why should we start the backup diesel engine? The diesel engine needs to burn oil!

However, if there is no smoke, it would be easy to arouse suspicion.

"Wait until daybreak and then have a barbecue. There will be smoke, right?"

Ilovich's eyes lit up: "That's right, I haven't had barbecue for a long time, let's have a good meal this time!"

As for how to connect the barbecue chimney to the exhaust pipe, it is not difficult. You can just barbecue directly in the engine room!

For the Russians, there is nothing they dare not do.

Anyway, they had already made preparations and had not expected the journey to end easily, but Sollot was different.

On the satellite phone, Sollot reported all this to Oryang in a rage.

"Yes, it's the Petrel. Let's investigate who the crew members are, especially the captain. I suspect he took money from the Orientals and deliberately sabotaged our voyage!"

Now, Sollot has realized that there is something wrong with the Petrel!
However, the Haiyan is a Norwegian semi-submersible ship, and most of the crew members on it are also Norwegians. Could they have taken refuge with the Orientals? This investigation is bound to be difficult.

"What should we do next?" Oryang asked with a gloomy face.

"How should I know? I am reporting to you just to ask you what to do next."

"You are the person in charge of this mission!"

"You are the head of Seadrill!"

Oryang rubbed his temple with his hand, which was throbbing violently, as if it would collapse at any time.

"Does Russia have any other nuclear-powered icebreakers?"

"Of course there is, but if we want to invite their new nuclear-powered icebreaker, we will have to sign a new contract and spend money on opening the way again. Moreover, it will take time..."

"What are you waiting for? Urge the 50 Years of Victory icebreaker to be repaired quickly and get it back on the road as soon as it's repaired!"

"Should we urge the insurance company?"

"Got it. I'll go find the insurance company. You guys urge the ship to set sail as soon as possible. This concerns the reputation of the Arctic route!"

If it was Da Mao who did something deliberately, it would definitely affect their reputation, but this time, Da Mao really did nothing, it was entirely the fault of the Haiyan.

The first time, the Haiyan was frozen, and the second time, the Haiyan collided with a nuclear-powered icebreaker. Can Russia be blamed for this? It was obviously the ship that had problems!
The Fifty Years Victory remained on the ice, motionless. A few hours later, the broken ice around it froze again!
At daybreak, blue smoke rose from the chimney. Sollot's ship was at the end, and all he could see was the smoke; nothing else.

"What is Big Hair doing?"

"I don't know. If you want to ask, you can actually go down and walk over the ice to take a look."

"I'm not. It's freezing outside."

The sun soon set again. Sollot felt like the day was a year. When the sun rose for the third time, he finally couldn't bear it anymore.

"I want to go over and see for myself what they are doing."

Wearing his own fake down jacket, Sollot climbed down the gangway shiveringly, then slowly moved forward along the ice. Looking at the frozen ships in front of him, his heart became even colder.

Is it possible that by the time the nuclear-powered icebreakers are repaired, these ships will be unable to move and will have to wait until the spring of the following year?
Sollot's mood was extremely complicated.

After all, an icebreaker must be able to move in order to break the ice. What if a nuclear-powered icebreaker is also frozen?
If he had to wait half a year...Sorlot would have wanted to commit suicide.

At this moment, cheers suddenly came from a distance.

Sollot looked over and saw several energetic people playing football on the ice! They ran funny and fell down a few times, but they didn't care and got up and continued running.

This is not the most amazing thing. On the other side, a man took off all his clothes. His whole body was covered with hair, and he looked like he had not evolved completely. This man tilted his neck and gulped down a bottle of wine. Then, plop!
This guy actually jumped directly into the ice hole!

Sollot was stunned. After jumping into the ice hole, could he get out again? Was this old Russian looking for death?

Sollot couldn't believe his eyes and walked over quickly. When he got there, he saw water splashing in the ice hole. The old Russian actually swam out of it, his whole body red, obviously frozen by the zero-degree Celsius ice water.

Although the Russians have a lot of land, their population density is not high. It seems there is a reason for this!
Sollot sighed, and when he saw the old man's face clearly, he was suddenly stunned: "Zaitsev, aren't you troubleshooting the nuclear reactor?"

Zaitsev was also stunned. He didn't expect that he was slacking off and running out to play, but was discovered by Party A?

"Yes, I am troubleshooting the nuclear reactor." Zaitsev said, "I just swam down to the bottom of the ship to detect the intensity of nuclear radiation to see if it exceeds the standard. If it exceeds the standard, it means that the bottom of the ship has been seriously damaged."

Sollot opened his eyes wide and looked at Zaitsev who was dressing quickly: "Are you really here to inspect the ship?"

"Yes," Zaitsev said, "otherwise why would I go down there?"

For the Russians, swimming in ice holes in winter is exciting and fun. Many Russians like to do this. Outsiders cannot understand it, but it also explains: I took great risks just to check the condition of the bottom of the boat!
"But where is your radiation meter?"

"He fell into the water. Can you go down and take a look?"

Sollot didn't dare to go down. He watched the other people pulling lines in the ice hole, and he didn't know what they were doing.

"What about the others?" Sollot pointed to the people playing on the ice.

"Them? They are not engine operators, and they don't understand nuclear reactors. They are left on the ship in a state of confusion..."

As they were talking, the fishing line was pulled up, and a big fish weighing more than 30 kilograms was pulled up from the ice hole! The Russians were so excited, they had a fish to eat!

The things in the cold storage on the boat are not fresh, so this fish tastes even better!
(End of this chapter)