The service is still running for the time being, but the relatively short journey has been taking several hours, with authorities debating only sailing with essential supplies on board, to lighten the load.

Ice and water conditions on the ferry route between Hiiumaa and the mainland are worsening by the day, prompting TS Laevad, which operates the island ferries, to discuss crisis measures with local and state officials. The issue is not only the ice itself, but also the ever shallow water along the ferry route.

Two ferries, the 55-year-old Regula and the newer Tiiu service Hiiumaa, sailing to the port of Heltermaa, from Rohuküla, on the mainland.

The Regula ferry, serving Hiiumaa, temporarily ran aground twice on Tuesday morning alone, while on Monday evening its journey, which should take not much more than half an hour, took three hours.

As reported at the weekend, not only the larger islands of Hiiumaa and Saaremaa, but also small islands, which have far fewer supplies, had seen delayed and canceled ferry crossings due to thickening sea ice. In some cases local residents had been making the hazardous journey via ATV to stock up on essentials.

While there is more water both in the harbors and in the middle of the channel on the Virtsu (mainland) – Kuivastu (Muhu/Saaremaa) route, the shallow channels between Rohuküla and Heltermaa are causing the greatest headaches for TS Laevad,

"It seems to be getting worse with every day," said Guldar Kivro, Head of Shipping at TS Laevad, which operates the island ferries.

The company is monitoring both the situation and the forecast hour by hour, he told "Vikerhommik," while even breaking up the ice is not without issues, as this tends to just lead to a greater layer of impacted ice building up. The water is also getting perilously shallow if the regular ferries are to continue sailing, with no signs of an improvement any time soon.

"More and more of the water is constantly freezing, and we are breaking it ourselves and pushing it underneath each layer, which means that the fairway is becoming increasingly difficult to navigate due to the crushed ice. The water level is also falling. This morning it is at less than 57 cm, which is exactly on the limit for the Regula. And it is clear that the wind is not turning, so this trend may continue," Kivro said.

Dredging work on the ferry channel between Hiiumaa and the mainland, a much longer route than that taken to Muhu/Saaremaa, should have been carried out long ago, Kivro said.

Eight years ago, in a similar situation of low water levels, a Heltermaa–Virtsu line was opened, but now the Heltermaa channel is also difficult to pass, Kivro noted.

For example, on Tuesday morning Regula ran aground there twice, he noted. Those wishing to travel between Hiiumaa and the mainland by ferry should allow plenty of time.

TS Laevad is doing everything in its power to keep ferry traffic operating, Kivro went on, though in the worst case scenario, only essentials, and not people, vehicles or non-essential goods, would be ferried across.

"If the most drastic and worst-case scenario happens and the water level drops to the point where even the main vessels reach their final limit, then we have also been in contact with the municipality and the state, and in that case we would have to declare a full crisis situation," Kivro said. The latter would mean that only essential goods would cross the strait — food supplies, pharmacy goods and medical transport.

Not only Hiiumaa but several other islands have been caught up in the bad conditions, with operators warning of longer crossings, vehicle weight limits and worsening conditions, some of the worst seen in the Väinameri strait (see map above) in a decade. Slushy ice up to 60 centimeters thick and falling water levels have already restricted freight, delayed ferries and forced residents in places like Abruka to make dangerous ATV crossings over the ice. While services continue in limited form on some routes, islands such as Vilsandi and especially Ruhnu remain highly vulnerable, prompting appeals to the government over an escalating isolation crisis.

January saw the coldest temperatures in around 25 years, while meteorologists say the big freeze is likely to last through to the end of February.

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