Imagine the surprise on the faces of researches as they worked away in the middle of northern Russia’s frozen wilderness when a giant Ice Breaker cruises by, only meters away. Getting this up close and personal with a 490-foot-long ship while on seemingly solid ice was not on the researcher’s schedule that’s for sure.

Travelling along the Yenisei River in minus 50-degree Celsius temperatures you might not expect to see another living soul, but for this team of adventurers a very large surprise was on the cards. The Taymyr nuclear powered ice breaker is one of the largest in the world with the shallow draft vessel designed to open up frozen rivers exactly as it was on the day. Driver Evgeny Shatalov even got close enough to touch the vessel as it cruised by. Let’s just hope they were on the right side of the ice breaker as there was now a very long, cold and wet hole in the ice behind it.

Reference: Taymyr (Ice Breaker)
Reference: RT