Even tougher conditions in store for ships once ice starts to melt
Although ships are already experiencing difficulties navigating through sea ice, even more challenging water conditions will arrive with the thaw, said Andres Saar, captain of the icebreaker Botnica.
"One evening, we counted 36 ships stuck in the ice and none of them were moving under their own power. The only one that was [moving] was us," Saar said.
However, Saar noted that it cannot yet be said that the most difficult ice conditions have arrived as the situation will worsen when the weather turns warmer and the ice begins to melt. As the ice starts moving more, it will compress ships even further.
According to Saar, there is no reason to expect an improvement in water conditions anytime soon.
"Right now, temperatures are constantly below zero and in some places nighttime temperatures reach -20 degrees Celsius. That only makes the ice grow. Nothing is decreasing yet," Saar explained.
Are Piel, head of the maritime traffic management division at the Transport Administration, said that similarly to the Gulf of Riga, ice conditions are also severe in the Gulf of Finland, particularly near Sillamäe and Kunda. Conditions in Muuga Bay are somewhat easier.
Piel said the last comparably harsh winter in Estonia was about 15 years ago. According to forecasts, winters as severe as this one can be expected on average once every 10 years.
What makes this winter exceptionally difficult for ships is the large amount of ice accompanying the cold weather.
"There is a lot of ice and layered ice forms, meaning ice sheets stack on top of each other. These layered ice formations can be more than a meter thick. Pressure ridges form especially in the spring and getting through both pressure ridges and layered ice is very difficult even for an icebreaker," Piel said.
Wind can also affect ice conditions.
"If the wind blows toward the open sea, the coastal area may be somewhat easier. If the wind blows toward the shore, layered ice and pressure ridges form, conditions become more difficult again and the pressure of the ice increases," Piel explained.
In addition to Estonia and Latvia, more extensive sea ice can also be observed between northern neighbors Finland and Sweden.
For example, a map available on the website of the Baltic Icebreaking Management (BIM) shows that the northern part of the Baltic Sea between Finland and Sweden could, in principle, currently be crossed on foot.
Russian exports via the Gulf of Finland have also slowed significantly due to difficult ice conditions there. According to the BIM map, ice cover can be observed around St. Petersburg and Ust-Luga, as well as around Kaliningrad.
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Editor: Marcus Turovski, Märten Hallismaa
Source: Terevisioon
