Twelve icebreakers escorted 46 cargo ships in the Gulf of Finland recently
Rosmorport owned 11 diesel-powered icebreakers and one nuclear-powered ‘Russia’ (chartered from Atomflot) for the past 24 hours have escorted altogether 46 cargo ships to / from the Russian ports based in the Gulf of Finland (St. Petersburg, the Leningrad region), Rosmorport told PortNews.
The icebreaking fleet so far has assisted to 2,206 merchant ships in the area since the shipping season started. .
The icebreaking fleet operating now in the Gulf comprises the Captain Izmaylov, the Captain Zarubin, the Semyon Dezhnev, the Captain Plakhin, the Yuri Lisyansky, the Moscow, the Captain Sorokin, the Karu, the Thor, the St. Petersburg, the Captain Nikolaev and the nuclear-powered icebreaker Russia.
Previously, the Big Port St. Petersburg Harbourmaster introduced on December 4, 2012 some restrictions on ice-class of vessels sailing to / from the port. Besides, as of December 24, the Port Authority banned from entering the harbour articulated tug / barge units (ATBs). The ships without reinforced hulls are permitted only under icebreaker escort. The Ice class vessels are permitted to sail independently using the regional icebreaking operations center’s guidance or may request the icebreaker assistance.
The Harbourmaster office issued another regulation, effective February 4, 2013, on mandatory escorts of vessels with Ice I hulls by icebreakers. The Ice 2 (and above) ships are allowed to sail independently guided by recommendations or led by an icebreaker.
Just two day ago, the Harbour master of St. Petersburg announced the updated requirements to the ice class of vessels entering Big Port of St. Petersburg and the Passenger Port of St. Petersburg, effective March 5 2013.
From the date, ships with Ice I class hulls and above will be permitted for independent sailings in the ice, guided by the icebreaking operations center’s recommendations, or may request the icebreaker assistance.
The vessels without ice class will still be subject to mandatory escort by icebreakers, and articulated tug / barge units are banned from entering ice-covered harbour of St. Petersburg.
