The Russian Tall Ship, Sedov, has reported a successful transit the full length of the legendary Northern Sea Route.

After departing from Vladivostok, Russia in mid-August, the Sedov completed the east-west passage passing the southern tip of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, the easternmost point of Europe. She is expected back in Russia at Murmansk next week.

The ship was originally built in Germany in 1921 and was acquired by the Soviet Union in 1945 as war repatriation.

The journey was made possible due to unprecedented low levels of sea-ice, in some places no ice at all.

The Sedov is a four-masted, steel-hulled barque, almost 100 years old, that is one of the largest of its type in the world. She has visited Ireland a number of times for tall ships events. It is currently operated by Russia's Federal Agency for Fishery. In addition to the ship's usual crew, onboard were 136 cadets from the Baltic State Academy of the Fishing Fleet, the Kaliningrad Maritime Fisheries College and the Murmansk State Technical University.

"We have sailed across practically the whole Northern Sea in open waters and we have not run into any crushed sea-ice, nor icebergs," said Mikhail Novikov, Captain-Supervisor of the Sedov. "We expected that at least."