The president of Polish Baltic Shipping (PŻB), Piotr Redmerski, explained that low temperatures prevent proper cooling of Varsovia's engines. As he pointed out, cooling water flows through a fine mesh on which ice pellets settle. – 7 tons of ice recently had to be removed from the grates – emphasized Redmerski.
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Ice problems also affect other units operating between Poland and Scandinavia. Icy thrusters make maneuvering and safe mooring difficult. Such difficulties were recently experienced by Skania, a ferry of the Polish Maritime Shipping Company (PŻM), operating under the Unity Line brand. There was no departure from Ystad to Świnoujście on Friday at noon, but the Saturday cruise at 12.35 was carried out as planned.
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Extreme conditions in the Baltic Sea
The director of the Unity Line ferry operation department, Paweł Wojdalski, announced that after a week of extremely difficult weather conditions, the situation had started to stabilize. — All ferries have resumed sailing according to the applicable schedules, he said. He added that hurricane winds in Sweden and ice on the Polish side forced carriers to cancel individual flights, including: Copernicus and Galileo. Epsilon and the newest Polish ferry Jantar also had problems with running.
Epsilon's passengers experienced an unusual situation when the unit got stuck in ice about 25 km from Świnoujście. The German ferry Peter Pan came to the rescue and broke the ice, allowing Epsilon to safely reach the port.
Varsovia's return and further plans
Varsovia is scheduled to resume service on Sunday at 22.30, leaving from Świnoujście to Ystad. The next return cruise is scheduled for Monday. However, President Redmerski warns that if frosts return next week, ferries may run with delays or even in convoys.
Units serving connections from Tricity to Swedish ports run without major disruptions. For example, Wawel, owned by PŻB-Polferries, sailed as planned on Saturday at 18.00 from Gdańsk to Nynäshamn. His return to Poland is scheduled for Sunday.
Although carriers are trying to adapt to difficult conditions, winter weather in the Baltic Sea still poses a serious challenge to shipping.
