A severe and sudden cold snap in Scandinavia has blocked ships in the frozen waters of the Baltic Sea region prompting the use of ice breakers.
German owner Eicke Schiffahrts’ 5,440-dwt multipurpose vessel Bugoe (built 2008) is reported to be stuck in the waters off Estonia near the edge of Vainameri Bay.
The ship is said to have deviated off its intended course to avoid ice floes and to seek shelter from strong winds.
Attempts by local vessels to move the ship and rescue its crew have been halted until the stormy conditions in the region abate.
Another vessel, the ice-class 1A, 4,684-dwt multipurpose vessel Friendland (built 2002) which is controlled by Estonia’s Klip Marine Shipmanagement, sent out a distress call after becoming blocked in by drifting ice. The vessel was freed after a local ferry cut a channel for it into open water.
Temperatures have plunged to below -40C in the Nordic countries with Swedish Lapland recording -43.6 this week — the lowest temperature recorded in January in Sweden for 25 years.
Marine surveyors and consultant Van Ameyde Marine said that on Wednesday the Finnish Meteorological Institute reported that the Bay of Bothnia had frozen completely about a month earlier than usual.
Charts show compacted ice covering the northern section of the Gulf of Bothnia.
Van Ameyde reported that the freeze has prompted the activation of all Swedish ice breakers.
In Finland, Arctia ice breaking 16.2MW Urho (built 1975) left Helsinki for the Gulf of Bothnia becoming the fifth ice breaker to go into action this season.
“There have been no similar winters in recent years, and it is exceptional that there are so many breakers on the move already in the first month of the year,” Van Ameyde said.
“This year’s colder and earlier onset of winter serves as a reminder of the ever-present challenges faced by vessels navigating these Nordic and Baltic waters.”
