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The Tsjeluskin Expedition
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In 1974,
Juri Salnikov, a
Russian historian also participating on the 2004 expedition, made a
documentary about the drama of the Tsjeluskin in 1934. Although it was a
black and white movie, the programme inspired two guys, Max and Josef, to
attempt a dive expedition. They contacted Alexander, who sits at a high
level of the Chukotka administration and he actually thought it was an
excellent idea. With the help of Alexander the expedition planning slowly
went ahead, working against all odds due to the fact that every kind of
activity in the Chukotka region is prohibited and must be sanctioned by the
authorities. In 2003, the first expedition attempt to dive the Tsjeluskin
failed due to the extreme water temperature causing all open circuit
equipment to free flow. |
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Why a second
attempt was planned to be carried out the following year with the help of
rebreather divers. This was where JJ-technique came into the picture.
We had the pleasure of training the expedition leader,
Max, and another Russian member of the dive team, Oleg, who also happens to
be the senator of the Chukotka region. The initial training was carried out
in Denmark and subsequently Jan and Thomas were asked to join the expedition
as one of the dive teams. Maybe the delay of the expedition was meant to be,
2004 suddenly seemed like a perfect year in order to commemorate the tragedy
and heroic rescue 70 years after. The mix of
people were more or less a coincidence but then again the Danish
contribution could relate to the Tsjeluskin being built in Denmark and The
Bering Strait being named after the Danish guy that discovered it. The
Swedish contribution could relate to the first guy to ever pass through the
Strait and of cause the Russians constituted the main part of the Tsjeluskin
drama. The mission statement for the Danish
and Swedish CCR dive teams was negotiated into four prioritized bullets; (1)
Document divers on the wreck, (2) Filming characteristic features of the
wreck - bridge and stern, (3) Locate and salvage the ship’s bell or
equivalent item and finally (4) Document the ROV working in the water. |
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