Ferry Breaks Free in Baltic; More Ships Stranded

(March 5) – A passenger ferry with nearly 1,000 people aboard broke free this morning from an ice crust that trapped it for days on the Baltic Sea, but another 26 ships are still stuck amid huge icebergs.

Thick ice forms annually on the northern half of the Baltic, but Scandinavia is experiencing its coldest winter in 15 years, with temperatures below freezing consistently since December, and the ice has spread farther south. Swedish maritime authorities are running ice-breaking vessels that use hammers to slice through the icy crust and clear channels. But even so, gale force winds have swept massive chunks of ice into a huge barrier off Sweden's coast, ensnaring unsuspecting vessels.

The ferry Amorella, carrying 753 passengers and 190 crew members, managed to slide out from the ice early this morning, with the help of three such ice-breaking vessels. Rescue helicopters whirred overhead and military hovercraft were on standby to help. No one was hurt, and the boat was continuing its journey to the Swedish capital, Stockholm.

The 10-deck ship Amorella is owned by the Viking Line, which runs Baltic Sea cruises between Sweden and Finland. "Normally we can handle this type of obstacle," CEO Jan Karstrom told SVT, a Swedish broadcaster. "But in this case the wind is unfortunate. It's blowing toward land and it means that (the ice) is packed more and more against land."

Rescuers described how fierce winds and cold temperatures complicated their efforts. "As soon as they break the ice, it freezes over again," sea rescue spokesman Peter Lindquist told The Associated Press.

Three other ferries escaped Thursday. One of the passengers aboard Amorella, Mats Nystrom, described a minor collision between two of the ferries as they tried to maneuver in packs of ice. "Suddenly in the loudspeakers there's a voice saying that all passengers must immediately move to the stern. Of course at that moment the passengers got worried and wondered what was happening," he told SVT.

Another passenger, Rigmor Okoli, told SVT it was frightening to be drifting out on the Baltic Sea overnight. "It is so dark everywhere," she said. "We have no idea how or when we'll get home."

Another 26 ships are still stranded in ice in the Baltic's northern Bay of Bothnia, but the Amorella was carrying the largest number of people by far. Other ships are cargo vessels or smaller ferries carrying cars. Rescuers said there are no plans to evacuate the remaining ships, and more ice-breaker boats will try to free them later today.

The Amorella and dozens of other vessels have spent several days longer than planned at sea, after getting caught earlier this week just outside the Stockholm archipelago, comprised of some 20,000 tiny islands.

"They got caught outside the archipelago, where there is moving ice. It's hard to navigate," Johny Lindvall, who manages Sweden's ice-breaking service, told The Times of London. "There's no danger for the passengers as long as there's food and drink on board," he said, adding that he had not seen a situation with so many ships stuck at once since the mid-1980s.