The ice conditions in the easternmost part of Gulf of Finland have turned out to be so difficult that the Russian icebreakers are not capable of assisting all vessels.
On the morning of February 17, 33 eastbound vessels were waiting for icebreaker assistance. In addition to this, there were 25 westbound vessels stuck in the ice. In the port of St. Petersburg, ten outbound vessels are waiting for assistance and on the roads 27 inbound vessels are waiting to be docked. On February 15 and 16, the Russian icebreakers assisted a total of 60 vessels. One of these was the Panama-flagged car carrier City of St. Petersburg, which docked in her “home port” on the evening of February 16, with a cargo of 1,500 Nissan cars.
The Russian state-owned port company Rosmorport and the state-owned shipping company Atomflot want to transfer the nuclear powered icebreaker Vaygach to the Gulf of Finland. The icebreaker is now based in Murmansk, but is needed off St. Petersburg. According to seanews.ru, approval from the other Baltic Sea states is required for transfer of the nuclear powered ship through the Sounds.