When the son of one of Vladimir Putin’s former close allies sought to travel through the Northwest Passage to Alaska, the Canada Border Services Agency instead
demanded he sail 1,000 nautical miles off course in an attempt to get permission for the voyage.
The 26-metre yacht Firebird is owned by Andrey Yakunin, the son of Vladimir Yakunin, who was a loyal Kremlin ally and president of the Russian Railways until his son applied for British citizenship a decade ago. The younger Yakunin, who now lives in Italy, attempted to make his journey at a time when tensions have risen between Canada and Russia over the invasion of Ukraine and tit-for-tat sanctions put in place by both countries.
“We wanted to do an attempt of crossing the Northwest Passage from Atlantic to the Pacific, and as far as we understood the existing rules and regs, we needed to apply for remote clearance, which we did, and we were not able to obtain one,” Andrey Yakunin said early Tuesday in an interview from his home in Italy.
The trip, which journeys through the waters of Canada’s Arctic, is a draw for high-latitude sailors.
“For anybody who is doing high lats, the Northwest Passage is one of the final attempts you can do,” Yakunin said.
“It’s the remoteness, the challenges, the necessity to navigate through the quickly changing ice conditions.”
On July 5, 2023, Firebird skipper Peter Madej made a remote clearance application to the Canadian government for the ship’s passage. The luxury sailboat was in Greenland at the time, waiting to make the voyage planned for Aug. 5 to Sept. 12 of that year. There were supposed to be phone interviews, which never occurred, and Firebird’s captain got an email from the CBSA on July 14, 2023, “advising that the vessel was not authorized for remote clearance and was not to proceed to Canada or Canadian waters,” according to court documents.
“It has been brought to our attention that the department of Immigration and Citizenship has cancelled the electronic travel authorization for an individual or individuals aboard,” the CBSA told Madej. The vessel was later told to sail to Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, where there is a CBSA reporting site, after Madej lawyered up and sought a reconsideration of the decision.
Madej wrote back to the border agency July 23, 2023, “indicating the importance of the voyage for the crew, and the significant detour (adding approximately 2,000 nautical miles both ways) to the itinerary should the vessel not be cleared for remote clearance,” according to the Federal Court decision from Justice Russell Zinn.
Zinn’s decision says the captain argued the diversion to Goose Bay would bring “significant increased risk to their safety,” and that there would be lost time and increased fuel consumption.
The stretch of water they would have had to sail for the diversion is “very tricky,” Yakunin said. “If the conditions are nice, I can do 200 miles per day. But sometimes you just sit in a bay and wait for a weather window for weeks.”
In response, Firebird Ocean Ltd. took Canada’s Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, which oversees the border agency, to federal court, looking for a judicial review of the decision.
“I am, more than anybody else, interested in understanding what has (gone) wrong with our reputation to make sure that we do not repeat the same mistake twice,” Yakunin said.
On Sept. 12, 2024 the judge sent the matter back to the border agency for a second look from a different decision maker.
“The facts underlying this (private vessel remote clearance) application process reveal communication and disclosure deficiencies” by the border agency which have left those at the helm of Firebird “inadequately informed and without meaningful participation,” wrote Zinn.
Yakunin wouldn’t wade into whether he thinks his father’s position in Russia was the hurdle that prevented the voyage in 2023. “I think it would be improper for me to offer any comment on my father’s side,” he said. “It would be very difficult for me to draw any conclusions with the current information that we have.”
The younger Yakunin — a dual Russian-British citizen — was acquitted earlier this year by a Norwegian court on charges that he flew a drone from the yacht in the fall of 2022 while it was in Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. Authorities clamped down on Russian citizens using drones in Norway after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Yakunin argued successfully that the drone was used to capture images of himself and his crew skiing and fishing. He even joked during the trial that while he isn’t a spy, he does own a full collection of James Bond movies.
“That one is very happily I can say behind us,” Yakunin said Tuesday. “The court there has supported what I’ve been saying from day one — that there is no offence.”
Yakunin has distanced himself from Russia’s invasion. When asked if he feels like different countries are keeping tabs on him due to his connections with Russia, he said, “We’re just living through very challenging times, and quite sad times.”
If he can get permission from Canadian authorities, Yakunin hopes to try for the ultimate Canadian adventure again aboard Firebird.
“Logistically, I think it will be a three-or-four year run-up before we are properly positioned and prepared for another attempt at the Northwest Passage,” he said. “It will definitely be more than two years. And I do hope to make it in less than four.”
If it happens, he’s hoping to see lots of Arctic wildlife during the adventure. He’s heard about “the abundance of beluga whales,” and notes “the chances of sighting a narwhal could make anybody’s day, including mine.”
He’ll be careful to avoid polar bears. “I think I have a low compatibility with them, so I (will) try to give them right of passage and steer well clear.”
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