Ships in Gulf of Riga and Pärnu Bay require early-season icebreaker help
The current ice conditions require the help of an icebreaker in Pärnu and Liivi bays.
This is the second week that the multipurpose vessel EVA-316 of the Transport Administration has been carrying out this duty.
On December 16, EVA-316 arrived in Pärnu bay with a crew of ten.
In the past 15 years, Captain Armin Sirelpuu said, the ice-breaker between Pärnu bay and the Gulf of Riga (Liivi Bay) was needed in December only three times, while another ten times much later in the season. This year, though, the ice is very different, as if it were March.
"Currently, we have served sixteen vessels, and one more will arrive tonight. And there's plenty of work, with about nine miles of ice from Pärnu bay," Sirelpuu said.
"The ice will be interesting this year. The structure of it right now is typical of the spring season. It's not very thick, up to 20 centimeters, but it's very tough — this type of ice typically occurs at the end of March," he explained.
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Editor: Kristina Kersa
