Two terrestrial places, completely opposite in their climatic conditions, are connected with the name Dixon. This is the northernmost urban settlement in Russia, located on a small island of the same name, and a magnificent resort town in sunny Malaysia. There is nothing more in common between them, except for the fact that both of them have seaports.
The article provides information about the Russian village and the seaport of Dikson.
Dixon Island
This is a rocky island located in the north-eastern territory of the Yenisei Gulf (Kara Sea) at the exit to the Arctic Ocean of the Yenisei Bay. This place is located about 1, 500 meters from the mainland (Northern Sea Route). From the North Pole to it is only two hours of flight by plane.
The area of the island is approximately 25 square kilometers. The average height of the relief is 26 meters; it reaches a maximum of 48 meters. Mostly its surface is composed of diabase deposits.
In the XVII-XVIII centuries the island had the names Dolgiy and Kuzkin (in honor of the name of the Russian Pomors who discovered it). In 1875, the Swedish navigator A.E. Nordenskjöld, who visited the bay and the island, was renamed in honor of O. Dixon, a merchant who subsidized this expedition.
The official name of the bay and the island received in 1884. And the first radio station in the Arctic was built on it in 1915.
This was a brief background to the emergence of the port of Dixon in these places.
Dixon Village
This is the district center of the Taimyr District, located 685 kilometers from the village of Dudinki in a northerly direction. It is located on the rocky island of the same name.
The Dikson area is an arctic desert with a rather harsh climate (located on permafrost, beyond the Arctic Circle). The average January temperatures are from -25 ° C to -28 ° C, and July temperatures are 3-8 ° C. Here, 250 mm of precipitation falls here. The population of the village is more than 4 thousand people (according to 1991).
In connection with the beginning of the construction of the port in 1934, a village appeared on the mainland, and in 1957 these two settlements were combined administratively.
The village has its own airport, the Department of Hydrometeorology, the Diksonstroy plant, a hydrographic base, a geological exploration expedition, a fish factory, etc. There is even a picture gallery, as well as monuments to N. A. Begichev (researcher Taimyr) and P. Tessem (who died in the Arctic, Norwegian sailor - participant of the 1918 expedition led by R. Amundsen). There is a place of memory for the sailors of the Northern Fleet who died in 1942 in a battle with the German battleship Admiral Scheer.
Sea port
Dikson (Russia) - Arctic seaport. It is located in the Krasnoyarsk Territory in the village of Dikson.
Its annual cargo turnover is about 12 thousand tons, throughput - 200 thousand tons: 50 000 tons of general cargo, 150 thousand tons of bulk. If necessary, navigation here is year-round with icebreaking support. In total, the port has 8 operating berths. The nearest port is Dudinka. There is an indoor warehouse for storage of goods. Its area is 10, 000 square meters. There is also an open warehouse (4, 000 sq. M.). The port has 3 caterpillar and gantry cranes, 1 wheeled truck crane and 4 auto-loaders.
The port of Dikson was used and is being used to ensure the life of the village, polar stations, military facilities, Arctic expeditions, as well as for hydrographic and hydrometeorological services of the Northern Sea Route.
The main cargo flow to this port is from Dudinka along the Yenisei Gulf. In addition, a waterway along the river is possible. Pyasin to the small port of Valek, located in the okrug of the city of Norilsk, but today it is practically not used.
In the summer, the port of Dikson regularly provides passenger transportation between the mainland and island parts of the village. The boat "Stanislav Gumenyuk" is intended for this.
A brief history of the creation of the port
The construction of the village together with the port of Dikson began in July 1934 by builders who arrived from Arkhangelsk and Igarka (145 people). The first moorings on Cone Island were built in 1936, and they took 3, 000 tons of coal in their first navigation. On a stone foundation in 1939, construction began on the main pier, commissioned in 1941. However, in 1942, the German cruiser shelled and destroyed coal piers, which were reconstructed in 1958.
By the mid-70s of the XX century, a new management building, warehouses with a vegetable storehouse and a residential building were built.
Currently, some of the old port buildings are not used, due to heavy wear and tear and are in conservation, and some of them are simply abandoned.
In summer, the navigation period in the port lasts from June to September (sometimes October). In winter, as noted above, navigation can be year-round with the escort of ships by the icebreaker fleet.
