Russian ships stranded in 30cm thick ice

Russian ships stranded in 30cm thick ice

Russian ice breakers are battling through 30 centimetre thick ice to reach three ships with over 400 passengers and crew that have been stranded in the north Pacific since December 30.

The vessels became trapped by thick ice in the Sea of Okhotsk Photo: JTB PHOTO

By Roland Oliphant in Moscow 4:56PM GMT 02 Jan 2011

The refrigerator vessel Coast of Hope, Commonwealth and a research vessel Professor radioed for help on after becoming trapped in thick ice on Thursday.

Local authorities dispatched two ice breakers to help the stricken vessels.

The Magadan reached the fishing vessels in the Sea of Okhotsk by Sunday evening local time, Russian media reported. But a second, larger, ice breaker, the Makarov, is still two days away.

An ice rescue ship was unable to help the three vessels because of the danger it too could become stranded, Transport Minister Igor Levitin told Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, on Saturdya.

It is unclear how many people are on board the ships. Levitin told Putin there were 555 people stranded.

The ships were stranded ten to 12 miles off the Russian mainland after they took shelter from a storm in a bay at the northern end of Sakhalin island before New Year. Seven other vessels that were also caught in the ice have managed to free themselves.

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Telegraph.co.uk