Scores of Ships Stuck in Baltic Ice
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Friday, March 05, 2010
A number of ships, including ferries with more than 1,000 passengers on board, have become stuck in ice in the Baltic Sea
The ferries are stranded in the waters between Stockholm and the Aland Islands, while cargo boats are stuck in the Bay of Bothnia.
Many of the vessels are not likely to be freed for hours, the Swedish maritime authorities say.
They say no-one is hurt and there are currently no evacuation plans. Both Sweden and Finland have deployed ice breakers in the area to help the stranded vessels. "The ice wouldn't usually be a problem for the merchant ships, the problem now is that it's very windy, about 20 metres per second," Jonas Lindvall, controller of the ice-breaking unit at the Swedish maritime authorities, told Radio Sweden earlier.
"That means that the ice is moving rapidly, there are lots of ridges with ice that's making it problematic for the ships, so they need help from the ice breakers," the controller said.
Six Viking Line ferries - which regularly shuttle thousands of passengers between Finland and Sweden - were among the vessels stuck.
There was a minor collision between two of the ferries when they tried to manoeuvre in packs of ice.
Mats Nystrom, a passenger on the ferry Amorella, said that was the most dramatic moment.
"Suddenly in the loudspeakers there's a voice saying that all passengers must immediately move to the stern. Of course at that moment the passengers got worried and wondered what was happening," Mr Nystrom told Sweden's SVT broadcaster.
He added that there was no panic on the vessel. Amorella and another ferry later managed to break free from the ice. It is reportedly the worst Baltic freeze for 15 years. However, Mr Lindquist said weather conditions were expected to improve on Friday.