10/01/2011
The worse it seems to get with the
Okhotsk Sea crisis, the less information we seem to get. But the latest bulletin (already some hours old)
tells us that the
Krasin has begun a rescue operation to release the
Bereg Nadezhdy fish carrier
and the
Admiral Makarov icebreaker.
This is almost "tar baby" territory, where one ship gets stuck, another goes into to get it, and it gets stuck as well, with another then sent in after it. Then we are offered stock photographs (above), bearing no relation to reality, showing cheery scenes of icebreakers leading ships through the ice â which is precisely not what is happening,
The agency
TASS, as always, is trying to put a gloss on it, advising us that
Bereg Nadezhdy will "possibly be freed by Tuesday morning", presumably relying in short memories. The
Bereg Nadezhdy was supposed to be freed Saturday, and the
Sodruzhestvo was going to be brought out today.
What now seems to be going on is that the
Krasin has been cutting its way to the zone of loose ice. Earlier, both the
Krasin and the
Admiral Makarov had coupled to pull out the
Bereg Nadezhdy (type pictured above), but they only managed to cover the distance of 1.5 miles. With the
Krasin now leading, the
Admiral Makarov has the fish carrier under tow. The convoy has to cover 35 to 40 miles to the zone of loose ice before it can get free, sailing at a speed of one to three knots.
There is still much talk of the difficulties in extracting the
Sodruzhestvo, with its 28 metre beam, which makes one wonder whether the public is being prepared for eventual failure of the mission. The weather conditions are still described as "adverse", with high winds and with temperatures having fallen to -23°C.
One report has two Mi-8 helicopters monitoring the rescue effort from the air, which is interesting. These are medium-lift helicopters, carrying up to 34 passengers (more in an emergency) and are not the type equipping icebreakers â which will more usually have the smaller Mi-2 or the Kamov-32. The Mi-8s, therefore, might be on standby for an evacuation, with the Russians preparing for the worst.
There is also some question of whether the Makarov needs
to refuel, which could add complications to an already complex situation, although - presumably - it can take off stocks from
Sodruzhestvo, which is the support ship for the trawler fleet in the area and should, thus, have supplies available.
COMMENT: OKHOTSK SEA CRISIS