Ice Breakers Dispatched to Free Stranded Ships in Baltic Sea

On Friday ships crossing through the Baltic Sea were warned to avoid a new danger zone, where several ships have already had to be pulled to safety. So far, at least 50 vessels carrying thousands of passengers have had to be freed from ice patches caused by freezing temperatures off of the Swedish coastline.

Thursday several vessels including ferries crossing with almost 1,000 passengers got stuck outside of the Stockholm archipelago. Freezing winds have caused ice caps to move towards the coastline, impeding the ferry passage between Sweden, Estonia, and Finland.

Ice breakers had to be dispatched to free several of the vessels, but when those failed, passengers on the large ferry vessel Amorella had to wait hours for a larger ice breaker to arrive.  Some of the cargo ships, which became stranded in the ice, were stuck for days before being pulled free. An official warning was issued Thursday, but already a large number of vessels had become stuck.

At present, no more ships are trapped in the ice, but ferry and boat operators have been asked to avoid the icy patches, with some even being put on stand-by until they can cross with the safety of an ice breaker alongside.
Currently, there are still eleven ice breakers working hard in the Baltic Sea to help clear the way for ships to resume passage through the closed off path.

The Swedish Maritime Administration said on Friday that it felt many of the large ferry companies had ignored the warnings issued. However, Viking Line, owners of the Amorella, said that the warning had been issued too late, making it impossible to avoid the situation which occurred.