Winter ice navigation using the FSUE “Rosmorport” icebreaking and service and auxiliary fleet has started in the seaports of three national basins.

Before the opening of the season, all vessels underwent repair works considering technical condition of their systems and mechanisms in accordance with technical means instructions and classification societies requirements.

The very first icebreaker assistance in the new season of winter navigation traditionally took place in the Arctic basin with the icebreaker of the FSUE “Rosmorport” Arkhangelsk Branch being involved. The Kapitan Evdokimov vessel provided icebreaker assistance for the Dvina tanker, following to the seaport of Arkhangelsk, in the waters of the Severnaya Dvina River.

According to the plan for the placement of icebreakers in winter navigation in the White Sea, including the seaport of Kandalaksha, the icebreakers Dikson and Kapitan Dranitsyn are planned for duty and operation, respectively, on the routes of the Northern Sea Route. In the seaport of Arkhangelsk, icebreaking operations will be carried out by the icebreakers Kapitan Evdokimov and Kapitan Chadaev.

Up to now, 292 icebreaking operations and pilotage of vessels have been carried out in the Baltic Basin with the assistance of the icebreaking group of the FSUE “Rosmorport” North-Western Basin Branch. 277 of them were carried out in the seaport Big Port of Saint Petersburg - the pilotage was provided in the Saint Petersburg Sea Canal and the Kronstadt Fairway. The seaport of Vysotsk goes second (9 icebreaking operations), while the seaport of Vyborg takes the third place (6). The icebreakers Semyon Dezhnev and Ivan Kruzenshtern operate in the seaport Big Port of Saint Petersburg, and Kapitan M. Izmailov is used in the seaport of Vyborg.

The beginning of the icebreaker assistance period was announced in 3 of 12 seaports of Azovo-Chernomorsky basin as well: on December 6 – in the seaport of Rostov-on-Don and on December 7 – in the seaports of Azov and Taganrog. The relevant orders were signed by the captains of the seaports.

In the current winter navigation season, 5 vessels of the enterprise are planned to operate in the waters of the seaports of Rostov-on-Don, Azov, Taganrog and on approaches to them: Kapitan Demidov, Kapitan Moshkin, Kapitan Chudinov, Georgy Sedov and Fanagoria.

The predominance of a stormy east wind with negative temperatures in the mouth of the Don River and the Sea of Azov during a prolonged period led to a drop in the water level in the Don River and the formation of an ice sheet up to 12 cm thick in the river and Taganrog Bay. The Azov Basin Branch started the pilotage of convoys when a sufficient water level was set to ensure canal draught in the approach canals of the seaports of Azov and Taganrog. From December 8 till present, the icebreaking fleet of FSUE “Rosmorport” has provided assistance for 433 vessels.

Navigation safety and icebreaking assistance are provided by the icebreakers of the enterprise in the Caspian Basin as well.

Due to the steady ice formation, the start of icebreaker assistance season in the seaport of Olya was announced on December 6, while in the seaport of Astrakhan, similar events started on December 8. In the current winter navigation season, 3 icebreakers of FSUE “Rosmorport” are used in the waters of these seaports and on approaches to them: Kapitan Chechkin, Kapitan Bukaev and Kapitan Metsayk.

By order of the acting Head of the Federal State Budgetary Institution “Administration of Seaports of the Caspian Sea”, a Basin Commission was established to organize icebreaking assistance for vessels in the seaports of Astrakhan, Olya and on approaches to them during the winter navigation period of 2022-2023. It includes representatives of the FSUE “Rosmorport” Astrakhan Branch, and, if necessary, captains of the icebreakers will be involved in the work of the headquarters.

Icebreakers are ready to work in the Far Eastern Basin. On December 17, the icebreaker Moskva leaves the seaport of Vladivostok to assist vessels in the Sea of Okhotsk in the Magadan direction for a period until mid-May. From January 15, 2023, the icebreaker Magadan, in accordance with the approved arrangement plan, will operate in the seaport of Vanino, and from February 1, the icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov will join it.