The Icebergs Are Coming: Shipping in the North Atlantic
Distance has to be kept: Icebergs can harm the ships. The only ships coming consciously close to the icebergs are cruisers with ice class. The picture is taken off one of them, the Hanseatic from Hapag-Lloyd Cruises. (Photo: Hapag-Lloyd)
Drift ice limit on May 5: The Canadian authorities create maps for the captains. (Image: Canadian Ice Service)
Monitors Hapag-Lloyd vessels and routes: Captain Axel Werth in the Fleet Support Center (FSC) in Hamburg. (Photo: Hapag-Lloyd)
At present, several icebergs are drifting out of the Arctic Ocean and into the North Atlantic. This natural phenomenon occurs each year in the period roughly stretching between April and August. During this season, these massive chunks of ice cross the major shipping routes on the North Atlantic. But German container carrier Hapag-Lloyd is prepared for them, as the company’s captains keep their vessels south of the drift ice limit so as to avoid any dangerous collisions.
American and Canadian authorities mark the drift ice limits on their own maps. “Our captains carefully analyze the authorities’ information and take it into precise account when planning their routes,” said Captain Axel Werth, who currently works in the Fleet Support Center (FSC) in Hamburg, where he and his colleagues closely monitor all Hapag-Lloyd vessels and routes. The necessary detours can add up to 250 nautical miles to their voyage. “Compared to when the waters are completely free of ice, this can even reach 350 nautical miles when headed to Montreal.”
The authorities recently reported that there are more icebergs this year than usual. For example, in the first week of April, the International Ice Patrol operated by the U.S. Coast Guard warned of 450 icebergs, even though the average for this time of year is only a bit above 80. Experts have attributed this year’s higher figure to winds that are pushing the ice south from Greenland, although they also point to global warming as one of the factors speeding up the frequency of ice break-offs.
In addition to containerships, bulk carriers and fishing vessels also bypass the dangerous areas. However, reducing speed in order to be able to stick closer to the ideal route is not an option. “Even if the captain sails more slowly, the problem does not go away, as it is generally hard to spot icebergs, even on the radar,” Werth explained. “As we know, the larger part of the icebergs is located underwater, and you cannot readily gauge their actual dimensions.”
However, safety precautions help avoid catastrophes like the one once suffered by the Titanic, which hit an iceberg on the North Atlantic off Newfoundland in 1912. In fact, the sinking of that famous vessel led to the founding of the International Ice Patrol.
Source: Hapag-Lloyd Insights
