Icebreakers rescue ships trapped in the Sea of Okhotsk

The Krasin and Admiral Makarov icebreakers set out to free the Sodruzhestvo fish processing vessel trapped in ice in the Sea of Okhotosk. The decision to rescue the ship was taken after surveying its location from a helicopter.

The Sodruzhestvo fish processing ship, pictured, the Bereg Nadezhdy refrigerator ship, the Professor Kiesewetter research ship, and the Mys Yelizavety trawler were all trapped in the ice. The ships sent a distress call on December 31.

The Admiral Makarov freed the Mys Yelizavety and the Professor Kiesewetter from ice captivity. It started rescuing the Bereg Nadezhdy on Saturday but failed to extricate it from the drift ice. At 4:00 a.m. on Monday the Krasin icebreaker approached the trapped refrigerator ship. Photo: The Krasin and Admiral Makarov icebreakers leading the Bereg Nadezhdy out into the open sea.

“In light of the deteriorating weather forecast, a decision was made to leave the Bereg Nadezhdy refrigerator vessel in a safe area and to send the Admiral Makarov and Krasin icebreakers to the Sodruzhestvo fish processing vessel to lead it out to the same safe area as the Bereg Nadezhdy. This will speed up the rescue operation,” the press service of the Ministry of Transport reported.

Bad weather complicated the rescue operation. The ice floe grew to 0.5 meters and the hummock to 2 meters. A snowstorm with winds up to 20 meters per second and temperature of –23ºC persist in the area.

According to the Federal Agency for Fishery, the Bereg Nadezhdy (35 crew members) and the Sodruzhestvo (348 crew members) have enough food and water. Photo: The Admiral Makarov leads the Bereg Nadezhdy to safety.