In two recent weeks of the winter navigation season icebreakers of Rosmorport have escorted to / from in the Gulf of Finland-based ports Big Port St. Petersburg, Primorsk, Vyborg and Vysotsk 72 merchant ships, a Rosmorport’s spokeswoman told PortNews.
Currently, the ice conditions in the Gulf waters are quite comfortable for shipping and there are only three icebreakers deployed in this area: the Kapitan M. Izmailov, the Kapitan Dezhnev and the Kapitan Zarubin.
Earlier, on December 4, 2012, Harbourmaster of Big Port St. Petersburg issued an order imposing restrictions on the ice-class of vessels entering the port.
Overall, in the 2012-2013 winter navigation season Rosmorport will deploy in the Russian part of the Gulf of Finland 15 icebreakers, including Rosmorport-owned 14 diesel-electric icebreakers and one nuclear-powered icebreaker of FSUE Atomlot.
In preparation for the winter Rosmorport upgraded navigation equipment of icebreakers the Moscow, the Saint-Petersburg, the Kapitan Sorokin and the Kapitan Nikolaev. Four sea-going icebreakers will have the latest version of Navi-Sailor 4000, Electronic Chart Display Information System (ECDIS). The system is capable of displaying ice maps of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute.