50 Ships carrying passengers and crew are trapped in Baltic Sea Ice
[ 8 Mar 2010 ]
More than 1,000 people have been trapped on two passenger ferries and two cargo ships stuck in ice in the Baltic Sea off Sweden's east coast.
The Swedish Maritime Administration and ice-breaking vessels mounted a rescue but were unable to reach the vessels immediately because of gale-force winds around the Stockholm archipelago and the Finnish island of Aland.
Speaking before the ships were freed from the ice, Peter Lindquist, spokesman for the rescuers, said: "As soon as they break the ice, it freezes over again."
Helicopters and military hovercraft had been on standby in case rescuers needed to evacuate the vessels.
The cruise ships involved have been named as the Amorella, a passenger ferry with 943 people on board, the smaller Via Mare ferry carrying 66 people, the roll-on-roll-off ferry Sea Wind with 32 people and the Regal Star, a cargo ship with 56 people on board.
Ice-breaking tugs are struggling to reach the ships stranded between Sweden and Finland with some expected to remain jammed in the ice for hours.
Reports indicate that Viking Line’s 2,480-passenger Amorella (built 1988) has now been freed with 753 passengers and 190 crew onboard.
However, there are also reports that the Finland-flagged ship suffered a slight collision with Rederi AB Nordo-Link’s 2,918-lane-metre Finnfellow (built 2000) which was freed earlier.
There are said to be 1,687 people onboard another Viking Line ship, the 2,480-passenger Isabella (built 1989) which is understood to be still stranded on the ice.
Sixty six people are on Baltic Scandinavian Lines’ 1,140-lane-metre Via Mare (built 1976), 56 on Tallink’s 1,790-lane-metre Regal Star (built 1999) and 32 onboard Neptun Maritime’s 1,270-lane-metre Sea Wind (built 1972) all of which remain stranded.
Strong winds are reportedly hampering efforts to free some of the ships and, although no emergency evacuations are planned, maritime authorities in the region have assets on stand-by should the need arise.
Viking Line has been forced to cancel its scheduled service with the Amorella from Turku to Stockholm and a sailing with its 1,700-passenger Rosella (built 1980) from Kapellskar to Mariehamn on Friday due to the “ice situation”, The Finn’s website reports. Other services with its 2,500-passenger Mariella (built 1985) have been delayed for the same reason
"It has been a lot colder than normal in the southern parts of the Baltic sea, but in the north all is normal with normal levels of ice," Tommy Gardebring of the Maritime Search and Rescue Centre in Gothenburg said.
"However, in the worst-affected areas, the ice breakers that normally operate haven't been able to cope with the ice..."
The Swedish Maritime Administration and ice-breaking vessels mounted a rescue but were unable to reach the vessels immediately because of gale-force winds around the Stockholm archipelago and the Finnish island of Aland.
Speaking before the ships were freed from the ice, Peter Lindquist, spokesman for the rescuers, said: "As soon as they break the ice, it freezes over again."
Helicopters and military hovercraft had been on standby in case rescuers needed to evacuate the vessels.
The cruise ships involved have been named as the Amorella, a passenger ferry with 943 people on board, the smaller Via Mare ferry carrying 66 people, the roll-on-roll-off ferry Sea Wind with 32 people and the Regal Star, a cargo ship with 56 people on board.
Two other ferries that got stuck in the ice were able to break free earlier.
"It has been a lot colder than normal in the southern parts of the Baltic sea, but in the north all is normal with normal levels of ice," Tommy Gardebring of the Maritime Search and Rescue Centre in Gothenburg said.
"However, in the worst-affected areas, the ice breakers that normally operate haven't been able to cope with the ice..."
