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‘Stalin’s Atlantis’: This Is What’s Left of the Former Soviet Union’s Floating Oil Town

Nov. 16, 2012 9:00pm Becket Adams

Getty

Far out in the Caspian Sea, off of the coast of Azerbaijan, stands the floating town of Neft Dashlari, an impressive network of 2,000 oil platforms connected by miles of road.

Constructed during the post-WWII era by the USSR’s top engineers, this once thriving oil town was home to approximately 5,000 Soviet workers. There was a cinema, a park, and rows of apartment houses.

“It was a Stalinist utopia for the working class. A Soviet stamp from 1971 summed up the gigantic hopes it embodied in a tiny image: against the black outline of a drilling rig, a road made of bridges snaked its way across the deep blue sea towards further rigs and a red sun on the horizon,” writes Arno Frank for Spiegel International.

That was then, this is now. Neft Dashlari is now little more than a closely guarded ruin.

“[T]here are few things as precarious as a world built on water and oil. The collapse of the Soviet Union ushered in the decline of this floating city as new oilfields were discovered elsewhere and the price of oil began to fluctuate,” Frank adds.

“The workforce has halved to 2,500, and most of the rigs are now out of use or can’t be reached because the bridges leading to them have collapsed. Of the 300 kilometers of roads, only 45 kilometers remain usable, and even they have fallen into disrepair. During a flood a few years ago, many apartments were submerged up to the second story,” he adds.

Here are some eerie photos of the former Soviet Union’s once proud engineering marvel [captions via Spiegel]:

Check out These Photos of Neft Dashlari, the Floating City | Engineering Marvel | Soviet Union | Joseph Stalin | USSR

In its heyday Neft Dashlari consisted of 2,000 drilling platforms connected by countless bridges that stretched over 300 kilometers. (Getty)

Hokhsbat Yusifzadeh, vice president of Socar, the state-owned Azerbaijan oil company, worked on Neft Dashlari in the early days. “We were pioneers in those days, and the oil flowed in huge quantities, he says. He has fond memories of the time. “Don’t forget there were many women on Neft Dashlari, and the evenings were long at sea.” (AP)

On February 18, 1951, the first fully-laden oil tanker left Neft Dashlari for the mainland in a grand ceremony. In the 1960s, the installation’s output peaked at 21 million tons a year. (AP)

This hotel still stands on Neft Dashlari. Dismantling the vast steel and concrete island would probably be more expensive than to simply keep it going. (PD)

Today the workforce amounts to 2,500, half its size in Soviet times. The water is slowly reclaiming the vast island, and only 45 kilometers of roads remain usable. Many of the buildings are flooded. (Getty)

Neft Dashlari, located some 45 kilometers from the mainland, today accounts for just a fraction of Azerbaijan’s oil output. (Getty)

Statues like this still testify to Neft Dashlari’s former status as a model industrial project. (Getty)

Large parts of the island resemble the set of an action movie. But oil is still produced here. Experts say the reserves will dry up in 20 years. (Getty)

Stalin’s Atlantis was a proud secret of the Soviet Union. The foundation of the main settlement consists of seven sunken ships including “Zoroaster,” the world’s first oil tanker, built in Sweden. Eight-story apartment blocks were built for the 5,000 workers who sometimes spent weeks on Neft Dashlari. The island had its own beverage factory, soccer pitch, library, bakery, laundry, 300-seat cinema, bathhouse, vegetable garden and even a tree-lined park for which the soil was brought from the mainland. (Getty)

“A worker on Neft Dashlari still earns some $130 a month, twice as much as someone employed in the same job on the mainland,” Frank adds. “But the plant hasn’t been operating efficiently for years. Submerged steel constructions pose a threat to shipping, oil leaks abound and equipment is falling apart.”

Simply put, Neft Dashlari is in shambles. But for reasons that are unclear, the town is still closely-guarded by Russian authorities.

Don’t take our word for it. Go ahead, Google Map the floating wonder. Let us know what you find.

Does the oil town have a future?

“There were plans to refurbish Neft Dashlari and even to transform it into a tropical luxury holiday resort, but nothing has come of them. Today, it accounts for only a fraction of Azerbaijan’s oil production. Experts estimate that the oil deposits underneath the city will only last for another 20 years,” Frank notes.

“In a few decades, rusting steel jutting out of the waves and old seacharts will be all that remain of this gigantic labyrinth in the sea,” he concludes.

Follow Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) on Twitter

Front page photo courtesy Getty Images. Click here to see more photos of Neft Dashlari.

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Comments (79)

charles116
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 11:01pm
Scary to live in those buildings knowing one good earthquake could tumble everything into the sea,

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RamonPreston
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 9:32pm
GoogleEarth didn’t know where it was but it wasn’t that hard to find. Look east of Azerbaijan and you will see the oil spill on the sea near Cheleken. Zoom in and there you are!

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- RamonPreston
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 11:34pm
  I found oil spills on both sides of the Caspian sea. Take your pick, I guess.
  
  Report this comment
- RamonPreston
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 11:43pm
  It looks like the location is 40.317910, 50.542309 but when GoogleEarth goes there it disappears when you zoom in.
  
  Report this comment
- M1A2_Tanker
  Posted on November 18, 2012 at 7:27pm
  Amazing Google Earth has no problem showing our Military Post’s and Base’s but don’t look at Russian oil! Traitorous Corporation!
  
  Report this comment
drs1969
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 8:42pm
The ‘green’ drum is a way for energy companies to ‘drum out’ competition.

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bigdawg1013
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 5:39pm
this gives me an idea…Ive seen articles on the web about “floating cities” that supposedly could be created by rich folk escaping the tax laws of their countires. Why not some one buy the thing(or a high percentage thereof) and make their own little country? There would be a social experiment I would love to see.

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thegreatcarnac
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 12:54pm
This collection of steel bridges to oil platforms etc. to connect into a floating sea-city is a gigantic mess. When it finally sinks it will make a good artificial reef for fish. Of course….that is if there are any fish left in that area of the Caspian Sea. Communist have the worst record of anyone when it comes to conservation and environmental waste. Russia cannot even come close to the US in environmental cleanliness. Communist beat the ‘green ‘ drum in countries they wish to dominate but in their own countries,…..they are an environmentally disastrous government.

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- UNIX_Techie
  Posted on November 19, 2012 at 7:38am
  The Aral Sea is proof of that. If something like this happened in the US the wailing and gnashing of teeth would be deafening. Check this out and read the story if you want to see what central planning does for the environment. http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Aral+Sea+shipwrecks&view=detail&id=772C24B3DEE3952D0619B15F396B77915DF5C785&first=1&FORM=O1HV6
  
  Report this comment
UNALIEN
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 10:25am
Stalins utopian atlantis a floating town, Obamas utopian Atlantis, windmills and solar panels…

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- stage9
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 10:33am
  I’m glad that monster is dead! May he forever burn in hell for the evil he perpetrated against his people.
  
  Report this comment
- mercenary4freedom
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 12:38pm
  forward to failure!
  
  Report this comment
- ScreaminEagle
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 7:33pm
  How many billions were spent on this cluster f%&k all for 5000 jobs. Yep Obummer would approve.
  
  Report this comment
Lesbian Packing Hollow Points
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 8:01am
It may not be on Google maps, but it’s there on Bing maps clear as day and in greater resolution than anything Google has for Azerbaijan.

http://binged.it/T7v4dZ

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- grimmster
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 8:27am
  Well i’ll be, welcome back LPHP! This is what commies do, they spend money they dont have on elaborate projects like this (see the chinese ghost towns), and let their people suffer.And 51% of the voters in this country, want the same thing…….
  
  Report this comment
- Walter2012
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 9:19am
  Good observation about Google vs. Bing maps. Google cooperates with Commies, Dictators & many other “Regimes” to sensor info. The Chinese, Russian & Islamic countries have good relations with google censoring. Time to jump off the google bandwagon & run for the hills!
  
  Report this comment
Sicialian Eyeball
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 7:36am
Previews of America in 2016 after 0bama is done with his grand scheme. Communism at it’s zenith.

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- rickc34
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 8:56am
  Yep. Stalin and Obama have much in common. Grand schemes and dreams that turn into rust and failure.
  
  Report this comment
- DisposableWorker
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 6:43pm
  My thought exactly
  
  Report this comment
- JACKTHETOAD
  Posted on November 18, 2012 at 6:07am
  As long as the accompanying deaths don’t happen. I think they’re trying to provoke a civil war. I really do.
  
  Report this comment
SacredHonor1776
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 4:22am
“sscamaro1967″

Yes, and your post deserves first place! Seeing as this is Russian, Rapture under Sofia Lamb’s collectivism would be more appropriate!

The rest of the posts diserve the booby prize!

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- GuruMeditation
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 5:56am
  Unfortunately we’ve all won the boobie prize in Barrack Hussein Obama.
  
  Report this comment
- TROONORTH
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 9:56am
  Boobies everywhere are insulted by that remark!
  
  Report this comment
- SacredHonor1776
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 11:36am
  Ya, stuck with Obama and his collectivism and marxism for another four years… :p
  
  Report this comment
Chuck Stein
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 3:59am
Great statues. Soviet era art is so comical.

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- Solexander
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 4:22am
  Yeah, those clichéd”Socialist Realist”(?) sculptures are still good for a few laughs.
  
  Report this comment
- shogun459
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 8:17am
  Don’t laugh the State determined the sculpter was an artist at birth and mandated he be trained as a sculpter his whole life to create masterpieces like this.
  
  Too bad they made a mistake, he should have been a Concert Pianist in a free world.
  
  But that’s just how Communists will do ya!
  
  Report this comment
coldnorth
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 2:57am
I love looking at Satilite photos. I find it intresting how Bing and google satilite photo will very damiatically when looking at certain places on the globe. The Caspian Sea is one place. Bing has great resolution unitl you want to look at what looks like a military facility, then the resolution sucks. Google maps won’t even show it. It’s been erased completely. Just looks like empty water, when you know there is an island there.

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Jenasus
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 12:03am
Oil is so old it should not even be used for anything anymore. There are an infinite number of ways to create clean and free energy but the greedy people in power want to keep their power.

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- Salamander
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 12:58am
  Can you be a little more specific?
  
  Report this comment
- mastice
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 1:08am
  Yes please be specific… because many of your ‘clean’ energy alternatives that you allude to either take a greater ‘energy input to output’ ratio (like ethanol) or they take massive amounts of fossil fuels to create the finished product. (ie: electric cars seem green but take high levels of fossil fuels to produce the actual car … and then you need to produce the electricity somehow – usually by burning fossil fuels like coal)
  
  Report this comment
- Cadcamtrainer
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 1:20am
  Let me see…. We shouldn’t be using oil, nuclear energy, coal…….. How about bicycles with sails on them. Would you like one for Christmas? Grow up!…
  
  Report this comment
- stotlaat
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 1:57am
  Baloney. Oil is superior in every way. It’s extreme in it’s usefulness beyond anything that might presently replace it. Fingers are old also. But people continue to be born with and use them.
  
  Report this comment
- TreeTrimmerJim
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 2:51am
  Without oil will we still have plastic? Lubrication?
  
  What energy source provides as much energy per volume?
  
  What energy source matches oil for reliability?
  
  We know nuclear, wind, solar power is more expensive. Wind and solar are less reliable.
  
  Without cheap energy how will our industries compete in business worldwide? The simple answer is, do what has been done ship jobs overseas where energy is cheaper. Labor is not the big component in manufacturing costs because of automation, energy is.
  
  Report this comment
- johnpaulkuchtajr
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 3:54am
  Yeah, could you explain how one lifts a 747 off the ground without burning a little kerosene?
  
  Just curious…..
  
  Sometimes my ancient, crumbling neurostructure demands logical thought processes that are often lacking from statements made on theblazze.com, especially by those of a leftist persuasion. Please enlighten me!
  
  Report this comment
- Reality_Bites_You_on_the_Ass
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 4:45am
  Germany’s solar power plants produce a record 22 gigawatts of energy each day, equivalent to the output of 20 nuclear plants. The country is already a world-leader in solar power and hopes to be free of nuclear energy by 2022.
  
  Report this comment
- raderby
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 4:55am
  yes, please – I want to be your partner and make a quintillion pesos.
  
  If you have a cost effective alt energy that actually works, and doesn’t need gov’t subsidies….you, my friend, are sitting on a platinum mine.
  
  Report this comment
- Vince Vega
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 6:04am
  Ummm…right. Other than the fact that the entire world runs on, and is totally dependent on, oil and its by-products, it’s really so silly and outmoded. You, sir, are a dope.
  
  Report this comment
- Bob
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 6:50am
  @ Reality_Bites_You_on_the_Ass
  
  Read the whole article you cite. The 22 gigawatts was a record amount of power generated for a brief,several hour time period when the sun was shining. The remaining 3/4 of the year when there are clouds and no wind over/in northern Europe, you will be glad to have hydrocarbon mainstay energy.
  
  Good technological development though.
  
  Report this comment
- Bluefish49
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 7:07am
  Come on people…this is a 10 year old girl living in Kansas who still believes in Unicorns…so be nice.
  
  Report this comment
- shogun459
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 8:11am
  Green energy is UNSUSTANABLE.
  
  Report this comment
- Dustoff
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 4:58pm
  Typical dumb lib, Make a foolish comment you can never back up with even a little proof.
  
  Report this comment
- rightrick
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 9:40pm
  Oil is a fossil fuel so, yes, very old. Gold star.
  
  Report this comment
Cataclysm
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 11:01pm
I see the next 007 James Bond Film here.

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spfoam1
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 10:45pm
Where are the environmentalists raising hell about the environmental impact? I guess they don’t want to become crab bait.

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- DisposableWorker
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 6:47pm
  Good one!
  
  Report this comment
Bah-Zing
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 10:36pm
Maybe someone should tell Peter Thiel & BlueSeed that a water real-estate “community” just became available….

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MikeNelson
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 10:13pm
Our Commie-in-Chief had equal visions of grandeur with green energy. You just know it’s going to fail when a Commie is involved.

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- Alaskasfreedom
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 11:18pm
  Ain’t that the truth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  
  Report this comment
DZ-015
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 10:07pm
This place is reminiscent of Battleship Island near Nagasaki, Japan. Although it is not artificial, it was similarly used as an entrance to coal mines extending under the surrounding Sea of Japan. The miners lived in large apartment blocks on the island up until the entire operation closed down in the 1970′s. The ruins were used as the villain’s lair in the latest James Bond film “Skyfall.”

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- Ditto Head
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 10:28pm
  I need to hurry up and go see Skyfall because a-holes like you continually feel the need to drip drip drip details about it. Couldn’t you just keep your big fat yap shut until it comes out on DVD? Effing a-hole.
  
  Report this comment
- jbuman22
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 11:00pm
  Whoa…someone needs to calm down (e.g. Ditto Head). Hmmmm…maybe HE’S the evil villain and he’s upset you gave his hideaway away. But, it’s unlikely that he’s the villain because he dies at the end of the movie…oops! Sorry… (Actually, I have not seen the movie, yet… ;o)
  
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- Spazmast
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 1:24am
  Dumbledore DIES!
  
  Report this comment
- rightrick
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 9:28pm
  Rhett says “damn” to Scarlett.
  
  Report this comment
possom
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 9:35pm
Well have the same thing here only it will have rusty wind turbine’s

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- jman-6
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 9:42pm
  LOL!!! Was thinking the same thing don’t forget solar panels!! that’s such an oxymoron…lol
  
  Report this comment
- realindependent
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 2:31am
  Actually i have solar panels on my house. And a collection point in which i sell the extra electricity back to the power company for a profit thank you.
  
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BlackCrow
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 9:27pm
When the Communists complete their takeover of this country we will be seeing this same sort of thing here.

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- Constantine Ivanov
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 10:43pm
  A short historical note:
  
  American Civil War lasted 4 years: 1861-1865.
  Russian Civil War lasted officially 4 years: 1918-1922; factually from November 1917 to July 1923 (in Yakutia), and Basmachis (Muslim guerrillas) in Central Asia kept fighting against Bolsheviks up to 1934.
  
  Report this comment
Thumper78
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 9:21pm
With all those pilings in the water, I wonder how good is the fishing?

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- Chuck Stein
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 3:58am
  All sardines come with oil automatically.
  
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asybot12
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 9:20pm
That is exactly what the USA is going to look like under the Democrats in 15-20 years!

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american1st
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 9:19pm
they should sell it to the libertarians to try out their utopian fantasy’s .,see which works out better….
communism or free markets..

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- jman-6
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 9:46pm
  no such thing as utopia!
  
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OperationNorthwoods
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 9:18pm
Hollywood will probably use it as the set for some apocalyptic global warming propaganda movie.

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Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 9:08pm
It’s bushes fault, he blew the levees……….wait, that’s Russia………still bushes fault……..Global warming.

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SacredHonor1776
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 9:08pm
Welcome to Rapture…

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- SWORD_OF_THE_LORD
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 9:25pm
  Welcome to Truth.
  
  http://theseason.yolasite.com/
  
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- jman-6
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 9:44pm
  sword- with all do respect don’t you think that name shows a little vanity?
  
  Report this comment
- GBTVFan_Non_American_Overseas
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 10:04pm
  That awkward moment when the confidence in your nickname is destroyed…: )
  
  Report this comment
- jman-6
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 10:20pm
  sword- If your going to make a case against the Rapture may I suggest to you that 1- the verses you use are accurate in keeping with grammatical rules of interpretation, i.e. used in context. 2- your bible aid suggestion of Strong’s concordance doesn’t bode well as he was a proponent of the Rapture. 3- The removal of Lot before GODS’ judgement of Sodom & Gomorrah was representative of the Rapture. Last but not least ask yourself this question.. In Rev. 3:10 why would GOD tell you “that since thou have kept the word of my patience I will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which is come upon the whole world” if HE didn’t intend to do it? There is a BIG difference between the Second Coming and the Rapture language. I pray GOD helps you in understanding HIS Word!
  
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- sscamaro1967
  Posted on November 16, 2012 at 11:46pm
  I think he is talking about the game Bioshock
  
  Report this comment
- Max jones
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 1:42am
  God bless you, Swordman.
  
  Report this comment
- Max jones
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 1:47am
  SScamaro…..What are you afraid of? Satan? Christ gave you power. Use it… don’t pray to run away.
  
  Antichrist first…6th trump…Then Christ 7th trump Don’t be deceived.
  
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- SacredHonor1776
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 4:44am
  “sscamaro1967″, yep.
  
  Your post deserves 1st Place! Seeing as this is Russian, Rapture under Sofia Lamb’s collectivism would be more appropriate!
  
  The rest of the posts diserve the booby prize!
  
  Report this comment

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