An Alaskan man traveling in a one-person boat down the Yukon River accidentally entered the Bering Sea and has landed in Russia's isolated Far East. He has been detained and will likely be deported.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Y. Smityuk
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A man from Alaska spent several days in rough weather in a one-person boat after accidentally entering the formidable Bering Sea before landing in Russia's Chukotka region, officials from the Russian Foreign Ministry said Friday.
Border guards stopped John Martin William III, 46, in the coastal village of Lavrentiya.
"It turns out he was sailing on the Yukon River in Alaska in his personal one-man boat," said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
"Around two weeks ago he decided to go out into the open sea and, because of difficult meteorological conditions and a lack of a navigation system, he spent a few days in the open sea and that's how he ended up on Russian soil," she said.
The man apparently sailed from the Yukon River (seen here) into the Bering SeaImage: picture-alliance/dpa/Zuma Press/Fairbanks Daily News-Miner/S. Harrel
Zakharova said William was in good condition and would be transferred to Anadyr, Chukotka's capital.
The US Embassy in Moscow said it was working with local authorities to assist the American citizen, who lives in Anchorage.
Heavily militarized coast
The Bering Strait between Alaska and Russia is about 80 kilometers (50 miles) wide at its narrowest point. It is known for its strong currents, cold water and choppy seas.
The Russian side of the strait is heavily militarized, and access to foreigners severely restricted.
In 2006, a British adventurer and his American counterpart became only the second pair of explorers to cross the frozen Bering Sea on foot before being arrested and deported from Russia.
Alaska's 2018 Iditarod sled race kicks off
This year's race has begun under a cloud of a doping scandal and the withdrawal of a major sponsor. But that's not stopping mushers from driving their dogs to the finish line in Nome.
Image: Reuters/M. Meyer
Symbolic start
The 2018 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race began with a leisurely 11-mile trot through downtown Anchorage on Saturday, to give fans a chance to get up close with the mushers and their four-legged teammates. The race-proper begins on Sunday in the nearby town of Willow. The finish line is in the town of Nome on the Bering Sea.
Image: Reuters/M. Meyer
1,000 miles in 8 days
The 1,000-mile (1,600-kilometer) race has groups of dogs drag sled-riding mushers through grueling Alaskan conditions. Sixty-seven teams are vying for prizes worth $500,000 (€406,000) in the eight-day event. But this year's edition has been marred by a doping scandal revealed late last year.
Image: Reuters/M. Meyer
Doping allegations
In October 2017, organizers revealed that four-time winner Dallas Seavey was involved in the race's first doping scandal. Four of his dogs tested positive for the powerful opioid painkiller tramadol, but he was controversially not disqualified as organizers couldn't prove it was him who had doped the dogs. In 2017 he came in second, behind his father Mitch.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Adn/M. Lester
Dead dogs
The race has also been hit with increasing pressure from animal rights activists and the associated loss of major sponsor Wells Fargo. Members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, a notoriously outspoken activist group, brought five headstones with the names of dogs that died in 2017 to the starting parade. They estimate more than 150 dogs have died over the Iditarod's history.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Corbet
Historic tribute
The race was founded in 1967 in tribute to the mushers and dogs who carried vital supplies to remote Alaskan outposts. The most famous run was in 1925, when a relay of teams delivered desperately-needed antitoxins during a blinding blizzard for children stricken by a diphtheria epidemic in Nome.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo
Perfect conditions
This year, racers have been handed optimum trail conditions. Recent events have been affected by a warming climate with the trail often significantly rerouted north. In 2018, the race will follow a southern route for the first time since 2013.
