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| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- |
| A critical situation might be in the making on the Northern Sea Route |
| 2021-11-15 |
[The Barents Observer] An early freeze has taken shippers by surprise and a big number of vessels are in danger of getting stuck in thick sea-ice.
More than 20 vessels are either stuck or struggling to make it through increasingly thick sea-ice on the Northern Sea Route.
Over the past years, shipping along the Russian northern coast has proceeded rather smoothly in late October and early November. But not this year. Large parts of the remote Arctic waters were in late October covered by sea-ice. And the white sheet is quickly getting thicker and harder to navigate.
Ice maps show that major parts of the Laptev Sea and the East Siberian Sea are covered by sea-ice that is more than 15 cm thick. In the eastern parts of the East Siberian Sea are areas with up to 70 cm thick one-year ice, as well as 2 meter thick multi-year ice.
Among the ships that now are located on the eastern part of the route are two oil tankers and a significant number of bulk carriers. Among the latter are three ships bringing iron ore from the Canadian Milne Island to China, and two vessels carrying iron ore from Murmansk.
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| Posted by:3dc |