full screen The Swedish Maritime Administration’s icebreakers Atle, Frej and Oden at the quay in the port of Luleå. Archive image. Photo: Pontus Lundahl/TT
The entire Gulf of Bothnia has frozen much earlier than normal and all five icebreakers of the Swedish Maritime Administration have already been called in to open the waterways.
– It is significantly earlier than it usually is, says commander Karl Herlin to DN.
The last time the entire Gulf of Bothnia was covered in ice this year was the winter of 2010–2011, when it happened around Christmas. Normally, the ice season usually peaks between the end of February and the beginning of March, according to Karl Herlin.