At Least 20 Ships, Including 2 Tankers, Battling Sudden Freeze & Thick Ice On Northern Sea Route
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. The tankers Andrei Pervozvanny and Vladimir Rusanov have delivered oil in Pevek, the remote town on the coast of the Chukotka Peninsula. Another four vessels are still moored in Pevek and could get troubles when leaving the remote port.
EDIT
Several of the vessels in the area might ultimately end up violating Russian shipping regulations. Most of them do not have permission for sailing in thick sea-ice without icebreaker assistance. And at least one of the vessels is also about to exceed its time limit on the route. The Andrei Pervozvanny, the oil tanker, has permission to sail in the area only until the 9th of November. In the worst case, some of the ships could ultimately be forced to spend several weeks and months in the area. In the winter of 2017, three vessels had to spend almost the whole winter in ice capture in Pevek. The sea-ice in the area was too thick for them to break loose, and the nuclear powered icebreakers of Rosatomflot were busy along other parts of the Northern Sea Route.
EDIT
https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/arctic/2021/11/critical-situation-might-be-making-northern-sea-route