Peotr Parinov: “We introduced restrictions following the actual situation” (photo report)
Russian seaports in the Gulf of Finland are iced over but the navigation is still active. In this weather it is not easy to manage operation of 15 icebreakers including one nuclear icebreaker. Peoptr Parinov, head of the Basin Committee on arrangement of icebreaker support, Harbor Master of Big Port St. Petersburg, tells PortNews IAA about the routine winter work at the headquarters of icebreaking operations.
Additional ice restrictions were introduced in Big Port St. Petersburg from February 4, 2013, according to the Harbor Master’s order. Ice I vessels are allowed to carry out ice navigation only with the assistance of icebreakers, vessels with Ice2 class and over are allowed to carry out non-escorted voyages upon icebreaker’s permission and recommendation or with icebreaker’s assistance. Vessels without ice reinforcement will not be allowed to call on the port. Other Russian ports introduced similar restrictions upon the orders of their Harbor Masters.
15 icebreakers are deployed for icebreaking operations including 14 diesel-electric icebreakers of Rosmorport FSUE and one nuclear icebreaker Rossija of Atomflot FSUE. From the very beginning of icebreaking support in winter 2012-2013, over 1,200 vessels were assisted to the ports of St. Petersburg, Ust-Luga, Primorsk, Vysotsk and Vyborg.
“We gradually deployed icebreakers for operation in the Gulf of Finland as the ice situation was getting worse,” Peotr Parinov told PortNews IAA. According to “Compulsory regulations in Big Port St. Petersburg” introduction of restrictions on ice navigation depends on the flat ice thickness along the route and inside the port. However, in view of availability of sufficient icebreaking facilities and absence of ice floe compression we suspended introduction of new restrictions with advance warning of all interested parties as bulk carriers and refrigerated vessels accounting for a considerable share of our terminal’s throughput are often in the list of non-reinforced vessels. So we did not introduce restrictions as long as the ice situation allowed.”
In the Russian part of the Gulf of Finland the major work falls on 6 open-sea icebreakers. They are attached to specific directions in the ports. The senior vessel for St. Petersburg direction is the Captain Sorokin icebreaker. Two open-sea icebreakers operate for Primorsk. The senior one is a diesel-electric icebreaker Ermak with the main load born by an Arctic titan – nuclear icebreaker Rossija which is sometimes deployed by the headquarters of icebreaking operations for other directions, most difficult in terms of the ice situation. Vyborg and Vysotsk are serviced by the Captain Izmailov and Tor icebreakers (the senior one there). As for Ust-Luga, the senior icebreaker is Captain Nikolayev working with the Karu and Captain Plakhin icebreakers. The latter came to FSUE Rosmorport from North West Shipping Company OJSC. Ust-Luga requires a shallow-draught icebreaker for operation at the river, so we cannot do without the Captain Plakhin icebreaker there.
The vessel traffic in the Gulf of Finland is monitored by operators of the vessel traffic control system (VTCS) interacting with the stand-by inspectors of the headquarters of icebreaking operations (HIO) and icebreakers’ captains according to specially developed regulations on information exchange and coordination of activities especially in emergency situations like a dangerous drift of an ice-caught vessel.
When approaching the convoy meeting point from the west vessels inform VTCS about their destinations. VTCS operator tells vessels’ captains what icebreaker they are to contact for further instructions. Depending on the ice-class and ice situation the icebreaker either permits a non-assisted navigation along the recommended route or specifies a holding position - the convoy meeting point.
Then from the entrance buoy to the berths of Big Port St. Petersburg the following port icebreakers assist the vessels: Mudyug, Semen Dezhnev, Captain Zarubin, Yuri Lisyanski, Ivan Kruzenshtern.
The routes of ice convoys depend on prevailing winds as they determine the ice drift and ice floe compression. With south winds prevailing in the region the most favorable ice situation is in Ust-Luga port as the ice gets looser. It enables vessels of shallow draught to move from port to port following the island route (southward of recommended ways by the island strait). With depth measurement carried out by FSUE Rosmorport this route has become safer and it is used more often with south winds.
Meanwhile, south winds complicate the situation in the area of Vyborg, Vysotsk and Primorsk ports. They get blocked with ice. As the captain of the Tor icebreaker operating at Vyborg-Vysotsk routes reported to the headquarters of icebreaking operations, the winds and compressions resulted in appearance of ice ridges of up to 1.5 meters thick.
Prevailing north winds make it difficult to escort vessels to Ust-Luga with ice getting loose between Vyborg and Primorsk. As for west winds, it is bad anyway: all our ports get blocked with ice.”
Today the port works consistently without any vessels stuck in the ice. In particular, this should be attributed to a new system of planning icebreaking operations. Valeri Klimenko, deputy head of the Traffic Control Service tell about it: “One of the major goals of the new system is the improved planning and informing of captains and ship owners on the ice situation as well as the plans of icebreaking operations and expected time of taking vessels for the ice escort. This task is to be solved with the electronic system of applications for icebreaking services. It is the second season of this system in the port. On the basis of the application list HIO inspector works out a schedule for each icebreaker and every Russian port in the Gulf of Finland. This schedule automatically takes into account the priorities of vessels in compliance with the “General rules …”. Thus, every captain now knows when his vessel will be included into the convoy. “The application forms filed by the agents contain the vessel priority from 1 to 11 to enqueue vessels. No questions arise when everything is determined by the list of applications and the plans of icebreaking operations. We work out daily schedules for all ports with the full data available at the website of Big Port St. Petersburg. Other information like the ice situation, restrictions and plans of icebreakers’ operations is also provided there. Scheduled time of taking under escort is determined for each vessel. We provide comprehensive information now,” Klimenko said having demonstrated the latest schedule.
Operation of the Gulf ports is facilitated with the nuclear icebreaker. “When it comes to the icebreaking assistance, the main thing is the width of the canal made by an icebreaker,” Klimenko explains. Even recently upgraded diesel-electric icebreakers Mudyug and Captain Sorokin make a considerably narrower canal as compared with the nuclear icebreaker. Besides, nuclear icebreaker with its heavy-duty engine and strong jets of water make the canal even wider. By the way, oil tankers leaving Primorsk and Ust-Luga are up to 50 meters wide. Nobody will build icebreakers of such width so the tactics and after all qualification and experience of icebreakers’ captains is especially important for icebreaking support,’ Klimenko notes.
Icebreaker Rossija arrived in St. Petersburg on January 22, 2013. Over the first 10 days her captain was assisted by Aleksandr Spirin, former captain of the Rossija who worked in the Baltic Sea during the last year navigation. This time he helped the Rossija to get hand in the Gulf of Finland as a captain-instructor by agreement with FSUE Atomflot. Rosmorport pilot is always onboard the nuclear icebreaker.
From February 1 of the current year, the headquarters of icebreaking operations upon agreement with the Federal Marine and River Transport Agency (RosMorRechFlot) involved the former captain of the Sovetski Soyuz icebreaker Anatoli Gorshkovski. Apart from the HIO dedicated activities, this well known and skilled mariner is to participate in voyages of icebreakers operating in the Gulf of Finland as an adviser to help the captains for several days.
When asked by PortNews IAA about the icebreaker’s future operation in the Baltic sea in a couple of years when new diesel icebreakers are built, Peotr Parinov gave a vague answer: “Russia’s team of icebreakers is the most powerful in the Baltic Sea. But we also have more calls, new terminals are being launched, new cargoes arrive in ports. Therefore, when new diesel-electric icebreakers of Rosmorport come to the Gulf of Finland, their sufficiency should be thoroughly analyzed once more. The capacity of our diesel icebreakers, even with the newbuildings, may prove to be insufficient depending on the ice situation. So the nuclear icebreaker may be in demand”.
Interviewed by Nadezhda Malysheva
Photo by Margarita Malysheva