A Northern Fleet detachment has left Severomorsk for an extended Arctic deployment that will keep its ships and support vessels operating in the seas of the Arctic Ocean for the next several months, according to the fleet’s press service.

The group is commanded by Northern Fleet Deputy Commander Vice Admiral Oleg Golubev. Mine countermeasure forces of the Kola Flotilla secured the detachment’s departure from its home bases.

The Arctic group includes the ice-class patrol ship Ivan Papanin, the large landing ship Kondopoga, the rescue tug Pamir and the sea tanker Sergei Osipov. The deployment will mark Ivan Papanin’s first mission of this kind.

Captain 2nd Rank Alexander Zinoviev, chief of the detachment’s deployment headquarters, said the crews will carry out a range of activities across the Arctic. One of the main tasks will focus on measures designed to ensure the safety of Russian shipping along the Northern Sea Route.

Northern Fleet Arctic deployments are also intended to protect Russia’s maritime economic activity in the region. The crews also conduct search-and-rescue exercises in the Arctic zone and along the Northern Sea Route.