EARLY FREEZE IN ARCTIC TRAPS SHIPS NEAR RUSSIA

Several ships are stranded in 30-inch thick ice in the Russian Arctic after an earlier-than-expected cold freeze.

At least 24 ships were caught off guard just off the Russian coast, along the dangerous Northern Sea Route, according to Russian media reports. The shipping route runs along the Russian Arctic coast, cutting through the polar circle, with forecasts predicting clear sailing for the rest of the month. As a result of warmer weather and climate change, the maritime passage has been open for longer than usual in recent years.

As a result, Northern Sea Route operators expected the same thing this year and were astonished to see ice forming across the Laptev Sea and the East Siberian Sea before late October.

Officials in Moscow are said to have begun search and rescue efforts, dispatching two nuclear icebreakers to remove vessels caught in ice up to 11.8 inches (30cm) thick.

However, there are concerns that some of the ships will be stranded for months.

According to the Russian newspaper Vedomosti, an insider at the state-owned nuclear power company Rosatom said “the weather has changed dramatically”.

After ship operators were told the passage was only blanketed with “light” snow, the source called recent weather reports “inaccurate.”

According to Neftegaz, Alexey Likhachev, Director General of Rosatom, the early ice formation was triggered by wildfires in Siberia, which he said reduced temperatures in the Arctic in an unusual one-off event.

For the first time in seven years, ice had formed along the route two weeks sooner than forecast.

According to the Neftegaz report, eight of the 24 detained ships had been cleared and gone on their way as of Friday, leaving 16 more to be rescued.

Cargo ships and two oil tankers are thought to be among the detained boats.

The Northern Sea Route connects Europe, Russia, and the rest of the world by dramatically reducing the length of time spent at sea.

When compared to a trip through Egypt’s Suez Canal, a ship traveling from northern Europe to Japan around the polar circle can cut its route by about two weeks.

Operators are now concerned that the delays may cause critical food and other important goods delivery to the Russian Far East to be disrupted.

Only in 2017 did the first vessel travel this passage, completing a six-and-a-half-day trek.