MURMANSK, July 30. /TASS/. Russian traveller and explorer Fyodor Konyukhov initiated a new award for contribution to the development of the Kola Peninsula. The initiative will coincide with the celebration of the 125th anniversary of Sergey Vitte’s expedition to the Kola Peninsula.

"I suggest making a decoration to commemorate the 125th anniversary of Vitte’s expedition, and the award could be given to those who have contributed to the development of the Kola Peninsula and the Russian Arctic," the traveller said in Murmansk on Tuesday on board the 50 Let Pobedy nuclear-powered icebreaker.

Those eligible for the award would be scientists, sailors, polar explorers and other well-known people, who live and work in the Murmansk Region, he added.

Murmansk artists have designed the image as depicting the globe, an eight-pointed star and the "Russian polar region" inscription. In August, a special committee will review the image and will develop the award’s terms and conditions. The voyager has expressed willingness to partake in the committee’s work.

Murmansk Region’s Governor Andrei Chibis supported the initiative, saying "it is important to mark the region’s workers, scientists, industrialists' input in its [the region's] development."

On board the 50 Let Pobedy nuclear-powered icebreaker, Fyodor Konyukhov will set off for the North Pole together with a group of tourists. The icebreaker leaves the port on Tuesday evening. The tourists will not only see the "top" of the world but will also set foot on the Franz Josef Land Archipelago.

Fyodor Konyukhov’s expeditions

The 67-year-old traveller has sailed around the world five times, has crossed the Atlantic 17 times and has become the first Russian to complete the Explorers Grand Slam: he climbed the highest mountains on all the seven continents and visited the North Pole and the South Pole. In 2007, Konyukhov circumnavigated the Southern Hemisphere aboard the Scarlet Sails yacht across the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. In May 2019, he finished his solo boat voyage on board Akros, crossing the southern part of the Pacific Ocean.