Baltic Sea Icebreaking Report 2019-2020
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BALTIC ICEBREAKING MANAGEMENT Baltic Sea Icebreaking Report 2019-2020 1 Table of contents 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 3 2. Overview of the icebreaking season 2019-2020 and its effect on the maritime transport system in the Baltic Sea region .............................................................................................................................................. 4 3. Accidents and incidents in sea ice ........................................................................................................... 7 4. Winter Navigation Research .................................................................................................................... 7 5. Costs of Icebreaking services in the Baltic Sea ........................................................................................ 8 5.1 Finland ................................................................................................................................................... 8 5.2 Sweden .................................................................................................................................................. 8 5.3 Russia ..................................................................................................................................................... 8 5.4. Estonia .................................................................................................................................................. 9 5.5 Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Germany ................................................................................................. 9 5.6 Denmark ................................................................................................................................................ 9 5.7 Norway .................................................................................................................................................. 9 6. Winter navigation in the different parts of the Baltic Sea ...................................................................... 9 6.1 Bay of Bothnia ....................................................................................................................................... 9 6.2 Sea of Bothnia and the Quark ............................................................................................................. 10 6.3 Gulf of Finland ..................................................................................................................................... 10 6.4. Gulf of Riga ......................................................................................................................................... 11 6.5 Central Baltic ....................................................................................................................................... 11 6.6 Southern Baltic .................................................................................................................................... 11 6.7 Danish waters, Swedish West coast, Germany and Norwegian waters .............................................. 12 7. Description of organizations and icebreakers engaged during the season 2019-2020 ........................ 12 7.1 Finland ................................................................................................................................................. 12 7.2 Sweden ................................................................................................................................................ 13 7.3 Russia ................................................................................................................................................... 14 7.4 Estonia ................................................................................................................................................. 15 7.5 Latvia ................................................................................................................................................... 15 7.6. Lithuania ............................................................................................................................................. 15 7.7 Poland .................................................................................................................................................. 15 7.8 Germany .............................................................................................................................................. 15 7.9 Denmark .............................................................................................................................................. 15 7.10 Norway .............................................................................................................................................. 16 8. Progress report of BIM (Baltic Sea Icebreaking Management) ............................................................. 16 2 1. Introduction BIM (Baltic Icebreaking Management) is an organization that includes representatives of all Baltic Sea states. There are Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia and Sweden. BIM operates all year round, and its strategy is to develop safe, reliable and efficient winter navigation between the Baltic Sea countries. BIM's overall goal is to ensure a well-functioning maritime transport system in the Baltic Sea all year round by strengthening strategic and operational cooperation between the Baltic Sea countries in the field of winter navigation assistance. One of the important tasks of BIM is to inform stakeholders in the marine sector and politicians about winter navigation and icebreaker construction. This report provides an overview of the 2019/2020 winter navigation season for the Baltic Sea region. National reports of the previous years can be found at www.baltice.org St. Petersburg Petr Parinov Chairman of the BIM 3 2. Overview of the icebreaking season (2019-2020) and its effect on the maritime transport system in the Baltic Sea region According to the Finnish Ice Service of the Finnish Meteorological Institute the Baltic Sea ice season 2019- 2020 was extremely mild. The maximum ice extent, 37 000 km², was reached on 5 March. Figure 1. The maximum ice extent of the ice season 2019-2020 was reached on 5 March 2020. 4 The ice winter 2019/20 began about a week earlier than usual as ice appeared in the northernmost inner bays of the Bay of Bothnia at the beginning of November. In the Bay of Bothnia, November was slightly colder than usual, and at that time it seemed that the winter might become severe. However, the winter months (Dec-Feb) were clearly milder than usual, and the area of ice never got to really increase. Especially southern sea areas remained ice-free for most of the winter. The largest ice extent this winter was reached on 5 March when ice was covering an area of 37,000 km². This is the smallest recorded maximum ice extent. On 5th of March ice was mainly found in the Bay of Bothnia. In the Gulf of Finland ice occurred east of Porvoo on the inner bays, in the Bay of Vyborg and off St. Petersburg. Figure 2. The development of ice season 2019-2020 compared to seasons 2006-2019 (dark blue area = variability (2006-2019), yellow curve = average 2006-2019, red curve = ice winter 2019-2020). In the sea areas March was 3-4°C warmer than usual and southerly winds kept the Bay of Bothnia ice field packed. At the end of March, the ice area was only 14,000 km², on average there is so little ice in early May, and the Gulf of Finland was ice-free, which has not happened so early before. April was about three degrees warmer than usual, but the Gulf of Bothnia was quite normal in terms of temperature. This caused the ice to melt slowly. May in the Bay of Bothnia was slightly colder than usual and melting of ice was slow. The last icebreaker returned to Helsinki on May 12 and ended the icebreaking season. The last ice melted in late May and on May 27th the Baltic Sea was ice-free. 5 Figure 3. The maximum ice coverage in ice winters 1961-2020. The average of 1961-2011 (51 years) is 187 000 km² (classification is based on this period). Severities of the season are indicated using colors from mild to severe (lightest blue to darkest blue respectively). The maximum thickness of fast ice was 50-75 cm in the northern Bay of Bothnia and 5-30 cm in the southern Bay of Bothnia and Vasa archipelago. The thickness of pelagic ice was 30-60 cm in the Bay of Bothnia and 10-15 cm in the Gulf of Finland. 6 Figure 7. Sailing distance from ice edge during maximum ice extension on 5 March 2020: to Kemi 120 nautical miles (54 nautical miles in ice thicker than 15 cm) and to St. Petersburg 6 nautical miles (0 nautical miles). 3. Accidents and incidents in sea ice The Technical University of Helsinki collects information on accidents related to navigation in ice. Ship- owners and others within winter navigation are requested to report accidents, incidents and damages that are ice-related to [email protected] or to Ice Damage Database Helsinki University of Technology Ship Laboratory PL 5300 02151 TKK FINLAND 4. Winter Navigation Research Winter navigation research is carried out in co-operation between Finland and Sweden. Funds for research projects are allocated by the Winter Navigation Research Board, which consists of representatives of the Finnish Transport Agency, Finnish Transport Safety Agency,