By mid-September, Captain Brusilov's expedition reached the Kara Sea through the Yugorsky Shar Strait, but soon became icebound near the western shores of the Yamal Peninsula and was drifting helplessly towards the north.

During the spring of 1914, Brusilov's lieutenant, Valerian Albanov, along with some members of the St.Anna's crew, abandoned the ship and tried to walk south over the drifting ice.

The only two survivors – navigator Valerian Albanov and sailor Alexander Konrad – managed to reach Cape Flora in Franz Josef Land.

The almost impossible task of searching for Brusilov (and geologist Vladimir Rusanov from another expedition), was entrusted to Otto Sverdrup with the ship Eklips in 1914–15.

[citation needed] Later in 2010, explorers announced the finding of a crew-member's logbook and various other artifacts on the shores of Franz Josef Land.