Russian Voyagers Postpone Alaska-Baikal Trip Until 2021 Due To Pandemic - Spokesperson

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd July, 2020) A group of Russian voyagers who are seeking to retrace an ancient Siberian tradesmen's route from Lake Baikal to Alaska have decided to postpone the voyage until 2021 due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, project spokesperson Anna Vazhenina told Sputnik on Tuesday.

"We were supposed to start the trip from the US city of Sitka [in Alaska] in May. However, given the situation with the global pandemic and the closure of borders, our Captain Anatoly Kazakevich made a decision to postpone the expedition until next year," Vazhenina said.

The Russian voyagers planned to sail on an inflatable catamaran named Iskatel (Finder) initially arrived Sitka in 2019, but returned to Russia during the winter, leaving the sailboat at the University of Alaska.

Vazhenina said the catamaran is in great condition and the crew commends the University of Alaska's decision to help.

The expedition has been tentatively re-scheduled to start from Sitka in mid-May 2021 and sail through the cities of Kodiak and Nome in Alaska, the Aleut Islands and Bering Strait, then visit Russia's Chukotka and the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, where catamaran would be left to stay during the winter.

Vazhenin said the voyagers plan to visit in 2022 China's Islands of Shanghai, Russia's Buryatia region and the Selenga and Baikal lakes in Siberia.

"Our expedition became a big diversified project uniting people around the world," Vazhenina said. "We released a 300-page album about our voyage and currently prepare a second volume of this book, an interactive trip guide and a tv documentary."

In addition, the group is erecting a themed hotel in the city of Irkutsk, dedicated to the expedition.

"We want to share the spirit of our expedition, so people could learn about route the Russian tradesmen from Siberia to Alaska and wonderful wild nature we saw during our trip," Vazhenina said.

Siberian tradesmen were pioneers who explored the way from Siberia to North America more than 200 years ago.

Russia began developing Alaska, which was then called Russian America, in the late 18th century and kept its colonies there until the 1860s, when it sold them to the United States.