Rosmorport’s icebreakers assist shipping in the Gulf of Finland
Since the start of the winter navigation season in the Gulf of Finland, icebreakers of Rosmorport have escorted 330 vessels, Rosmorport press service told PortNews. Over the past day, the icebreakers have assisted to 18 ships.
Currently, the fleet includes seven icebreakers, the Kapitan M. Izmailov, the Kapitan Dezhnev, the Kapitan Zarubin, the Ivan Krusenstern, the Mudyug, the Semyon Dezhnev and the Yuri Lisyansky.
Ice Operations Center reports ice thickness of 20-30 cm in the Neva Bay.
Previously, in connection with the formation in the waters of Big Port St. Petersburg of early stages of ice, needle ice in the Neva River, cold temperatures, the Port Authority introduced restrictions on ice-class of vessels sailing to / from the port, effective as of the midnight of December 24, 2012. From the date, according to the order, the ATBs will be banned from entering the harbor as well as ships without ice class hulls should be escorted by icebreakers. The vessels having any ice-class are permitted to sail independently using the regional icebreaking operations center’s notice or may request the icebreaker assistance.
Earlier, Rosmorport said it would deploy its own 14 diesel-powered icebreakers and one nuclear-powered vessel of Atomflot in the Russian part of the Gulf of Finland to ensure safe and smooth shipping in the 2012-2013 winter season.