Arctic shuttle tanker SCF Timofey Guzhenko, currently engaged in work on the Varandey project, bears the name of this great Russian statesman.
15 February marked 95 years since the birth of Timofey Guzhenko – a prominent Russian statesman who made a significant contribution to the historical development of the country’s maritime industry.
Timofey Borisovich Guzhenko (15.02.1918-10.08.1986) was the USSR Minister of Merchant Maritime, a Hero of Socialist labour and one of the founders of Sovcomflot Group.
He was born on 15 February, 1918. Timofey Guzhenko graduated from the Odessa Institute of Merchant Fleet Engineers in 1942, and later from the Leningrad Maritime Academy. He worked at the commercial port of Murmansk during WWII and in the post-war years became head of the ports of Kholmsk and then Korsakov, before becoming director of the Sakhalin Shipping Company. From 1966, he was the First Deputy Minister of the USSR Merchant Marine and between 1970 and 1986 held the post of the USSR Minister of Merchant Marine.
The name Timofey Guzhenko is intrinsically linked with the transformation and rise of the merchant fleet as it became a leading branch of the Soviet economy; employing new and unique approaches to the organisation of maritime transportation.
Timofey Guzhenko made a significant contribution to the development of Arctic and sub-Arctic shipping. On 17 August, 1977, for the first time in human history, an expedition led by Timofey Guzhenko reached the North Pole aboard a surface vessel (the nuclear icebreaker “Arctica”). This voyage to the North Pole demonstrated the great potential for further exploration and navigation in the Arctic. For his role in the expedition, Timofey Borisovich Guzhenko was awarded the Order of Lenin and Hammer and Sickle gold medal.
Arctic shuttle tanker SCF Timofey Guzhenko was named in honour of the great statesman. This enhanced ice-class vessel has a deadweight of 70,000 tonnes and is intended for oil transportation from the sub-Arctic Varandey oil field to the port of Murmansk. Timofey Guzhenko was brought into commission on 24 February, 2009. A range of unique technological solutions were employed in the construction of the tanker, allowing her to operate effectively in the Arctic seas on a year-round basis.
[mappress]
SCF, February 26, 2013