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Sailor Jeffrey Allison to head home after Russian incident

Sep 20 2009 Sunday Sun

A GRANDFATHER who sparked an international incident after running into Russian waters will set sail for home this week, the Sunday Sun has learned.

The 71-year-old sailor Jeffrey Allison, from Middleton Tyas in North Yorkshire, was attempting to become the first man to sail through the North East passage in the Arctic when he was arrested by Russian authorities while in their waters.

He was ordered to turn his boat around and sail to Murmansk, or risk being sunk by the coastguard.

Despite being hauled before a court to comply with international law, his epic bid now lying in tatters, Mr Allison remains upbeat about the incident and will be heading for home on Tuesday.

He said: “It’s bureaucracy gone mad over there . . . everybody was apologising for it.”

Mr Allison and his two crew mates Barrie Beeken, from Melsonby, North Yorkshire, and Craig Longstaff, from Heighington, near Darlington, County Durham were attempting to negotiate the North-East Passage, a shipping lane linking the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean along the Russian coast.

They were 10 miles short of their goal when encroaching ice forced them to turn back.

On their return, around 30 miles from Norwegian waters, they were approached by Russian authorities in a gunboat, which told them they were in Russian waters.

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