Arctia’s icebreaker Kontio left the icebreaker base at Katajanokka Helsinki and headed to the Bay of Bothnia as the Finnish icebreaking season’s second icebreaker at 10 AM on Friday, 16 December 2016, Arctia says in a press release. Kontio’s sister vessel Otso departed already last Thursday, 8 December 2016.
Kontio will arrive at its operational area on Sunday. “Both ice coverage and ice thickness are increasing on the Kemi-Tornio and Oulu fairways. The prevailing mild winds and temperatures are good news for merchant vessels on these fairways. However, ice conditions are getting tougher every day. Southerly winds are forecasted to grow stronger early next week. That will most likely cause increasing pressure and movement in the ice near Kemi-Tornio and the Oulu 3 lighthouse”, explains Timo Jeskanen, Master of IB Kontio.