The cargo ship did not reach the Estonian port: the icebreaker also did not dare to go the direct way

The cargo ship, following the easternmost port of Estonia, got stuck in ice in the territorial waters of Estonia in the Gulf of Finland. The icebreaker that arrived, however, also did not take him the same way to the port.

The Katarina cargo ship is heading to the Estonian port of Sillamae, where it should arrive at 4.00 on February 23. However, according to AIS ships, the cargo ship, which can carry a little more than 4 thousand tons, got stuck in the territorial waters of Estonia 40 miles from the port yesterday at 18.00.

Since that time, the ship has stopped moving along the course and maneuvered. This morning, after 9.00, the icebreaker Botnica approached him. However, he also did not take the cargo ship to Sillamae. The ships returned a few miles to the west and took to the south. Obviously, the icebreaker does not want to go the direct way of Sillamae, but is looking for a workaround.

It is known that the last time bulk carriers entered the easternmost Estonian port was on February 19. Obviously, accompanied by the icebreaker Tarmo, which was also in port.

Earlier, the Estonian authorities decided that all vessels going to Sillamae should not follow the traditional route through Russian waters, but should go through the shallow waters of their waters, which requires the training of captains and pilots.

As EADaily reported, Russia has assembled a group of icebreakers in the Russian territorial waters of the Gulf of Finland. There are more than fifty tankers in the region alone. The head of Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev, said the day before that for the first time in several years the Gulf of Finland began to freeze and it is 80% covered with ice. At the same time, the thickness of the ice reaches 40 cm and there is a real threat to shipping.

"There is a lot of ice, the so-called layered ice is formed, that is, the ice layers are superimposed on each other. These layers can be more than a meter thick. Hummocky ice forms especially in spring, and it is very difficult for even an icebreaker to pass through hummocks and layered ice," Andres Saar, captain of the Estonian icebreaker Botnica, told ERR earlier.