08/01/2011
In this
long-running drama, the latest from
TASS is that the
Makarov has begun the operation to lead to what it calls the "trawler"
Bereg Nadezhdy out of the ice trap in the Sea of Okhotsk. The
Makarov reached the
Bereg Nadezhdy at midnight Moscow time last night and, after completing the preparations, at 02:00hrs began the operation to lead the ship out of the heavy ice zone.
Why TASS should refer to the
Bereg Nadezhdy as a "trawler" is something of a puzzle. She is a 13,000-ton
Kristall II type fish carrier ("Komsomolets Primorya" type), one of 27 units of the type built from 1983 to 1993. Their function is to receive frozen fish from fishing vessels at sea and transport it to port. They can also act as "mother ships", supplying fishing vessels with fuel, water and provisions. (The ship pictured is an example of the type, the
San Luis, formerly the
Kildinsky Proliv, built in Wismar, Germany 1989.)
With a beam of 22 metres, the
Bereg Nadezhdy should not prove too much of a problem for the
Makarov with its beam of 25.97 metres. The real challenge will come when they try to extract the
Sodruzhestvo, with her 28 metre beam. It is now anticipated that the
Krasin, when she arrives late tonight, will work in concert with the
Makarov to make the ice channel wider in the hope the
Sodruzhestvo can be squeezed through.
Whether this works is anyone's guess. So much will depend on the ice thickness and conformation, the temperature and the wind strength. There have been reports of depths up to six metres in what is reported to be heavily hummocked and layered ice.
The picture above is from the Okhotsk sea â an earlier season â which illustrates what the conditions could be like. In addition, it could well be dark, with zero visibility in blizzard conditions. Even a fair-weather tow of the
Sodruzhestvo would be an extraordinarily difficult undertaking, so the famed Russian expertise in ice navigation is soon to be put to its ultimate test.
COMMENT: OKHOTSK SEA CRISIS THREAD