Arctia's second icebreaker starts assisting ship convoys in the Bothnian Bay

Arctia’s icebreaker Kontio departed the icebreaker base in Helsinki as the Finnish icebreaking season’s second icebreaker on Saturday 29 December 2018. The vessel headed towards its initial operation area near Oulu and Raahe, where it will begin assisting vessels upon arrival on Sunday 30 December. Icebreaker Otso, that departed on 25 December, already assists vessels in the Bothnian Bay.

“There is already ice coverage in the northernmost part of the Bothnian Bay as well as near Oulu. So far the ice situation has been easy, but as temperatures keep dropping further below zero, more ice will form fast. Some forecasts predict a winter colder than average. A master of an icebreaker naturally has nothing against these kinds of predictions”, ponders Timo Jeskanen, Master of IB Kontio.