News - Photo reports

25/04/2008

Ice-breaker in the Baltic

Philip Plisson's photo report : Ice-breaker in the Baltic

Every winter, the gulf of Buthnia, the northern arm of the Baltic Sea which
makes its way between Sweden and Finland, freezes completely.

However, the sea traffic is quite heavy. More than 80 % of Finland 's trade is carried out by sea. When the sea is frozen and boats do not pass any more, 9 Finnish ice-breakers allow 14,000 ships to get to their destination in winter.

Philip and his assistant, Christophe, were invited aboard the ice-breaker Otso during 5 days : " A great experience, made possible thanks to the Embassy of France in Finland "...

See in video the icebreaker thrown to 20 knots on the frozen sea.