Toyota Truck Fleet Narrowly Avoids Russian Icebreaker
We’ve been cut off by a lot of different vehicles in our day. But never by a 21,000 ton, nuclear-powered ship!
All of us have undoubtedly had to deal with some jerk cutting us off. More than once in our lives, in fact. But when you’re attempting to traverse a frozen Russian river, cross traffic is, well, a little different. Instead of getting cut off by some hybrid sedan or work truck, you find yourself face-to-face with a 490 foot-long, 21,000 ton nuclear Russian icebreaker! At least, that’s what happened to a group of Arctic adventurers driving a group of factory-stock Toyota trucks recently.
One of the Toyota truck drivers, Evgeny Shatalov, even claimed that he “managed to get close to the giant ship and touch it,” according to RT.com. “He also jokingly regretted that no one on the team touched the icebreaker with their tongue, as that would surely bring good luck to the whole endeavor. When the ship passed by, it was some -50 Celsius.” No report on whether any of the drivers soiled their pants as a result.
The massive icebreaker, dubbed Taymyr, was built way back during the Cold War and entered service in 1989. Today, it remains one of the largest icebreakers in the world. Packing a 171-megawatt KLT-40M nuclear reactor, the ship is capable of slicing through areas with as little as 30 feet of available depth. Which means that it could have chopped up a group of Toyota trucks with the precision of a Japanese steakhouse chef.
There’s no telling if the 115-man crew aboard the ship even saw the group of adventurers. And judging by how fast the thing was moving, it might not have mattered. Thankfully, nobody got hurt and the team was able to carry on across the Arctic. And as a result, they’ve got one heck of a story to tell!
