Weather services show the epicenter of the storm. Photo: Oskar Konyukhov
On the night of February 4, Fedor Konyukhov was caught in the zone of the strongest storm in the Southern Ocean. There was no contact with him for a while. The waves are gradually decreasing, but the traveler does not yet have the opportunity to go on deck and assess the possible damage. There is a risk that it will not allow the expedition to continue.
On February 4, in the afternoon, there were reports that Konyukhov had stopped contacting. The day before, the expedition headquarters warned that on the night of February 3 to 4, the «AKROS» boat would be in the epicenter of a 9–10 magnitude storm. A few hours earlier, the weather services showed a wind of 40 knots and waves of 8 m at the location where the «AKROS» boat is located. Meanwhile, as the traveler himself reported, the wind indicator was already damaged by waves, from that moment on you have to steer the boat blindly.
After several hours of silence, while Konyukhov was in the center of the storm, the headquarters began receiving short messages from him via the Iridium Go satellite terminal. The traveler’s Telegram channel published three of them.
«I’m alive, the boat survived. The waves are big. They are destructive. I still can’t go out on deck and see the destruction on the boat.»
«Within 24 hours, I capsized sideways about 15 times and forward 8 times. I’ve experienced a lot, but when a boat lies upside down for a few seconds before another wave arrives, it’s scary.»
«The waves are hitting the boat, but it feels like the ocean has started to calm down. The wind indicator is off; I can’t see the wind direction. The spare is in the bow compartment, there’s no way to get there right now.»
The coordinates of the boat are 45’22 S and 011’47 E.
As Fedor Filippovich noted earlier, the storm itself does not frighten him. But waves that cause the boat to flip are dangerous, as this can damage the so-called radar arch: it has all the antennas of two satellite phones, VHF radio stations, AIS systems, and two sockets for wind indicators.
To understand the dramatic nature of the moment: as the expedition’s chief of staff, Oskar Konyukhov, recalled, during the first stage of the expedition from New Zealand to Cape Нorn in 2019, due to storms, the «AKROS» capsized only three times, and now a total of 23 times in just a few hours!
The radar frame is clearly visible to the left of Fedor Konyukhov, this is the most vulnerable unit on the boat. Photo: Oskar Konyukhov
The peak of the storm has passed, but the waves are still remaining at seven points. There are still three or four days before it ends. Now the coastal headquarters is waiting for Konyukhov to be able to get on deck and assess the extent of possible damage, after which a decision will be made on the future of the project.