On Tuesday in the Saulkrasti municipality, in the waters of Skulte port in the Gulf of Riga, a sudden change in wind direction caused a drifting mass of ice to push the pilot vessel working in the port out of the channel.
As a result, the vessel ran aground and was significantly tilted, reported Baiba Stādje, a representative of the Saulkrasti municipality, to the LETA agency.
For safety reasons, it was decided to evacuate the crew of five people aboard. The evacuation was carried out with the help of a Latvian army helicopter.
According to the National Armed Forces Air Force, a request for assistance came from the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC). The vessel was located near the Skulte port, where a large accumulation of ice formed underneath it, causing it to tilt significantly, which posed a risk to the people on board.
Due to difficult weather conditions and ice, rescue services could not reach the vessel either on foot or by boat, so a military helicopter was brought in to conduct the operation. During the operation, all five individuals were delivered to shore. The evacuees were taken to a stadium in Zvejniekciems, where they were met by medical personnel from the Emergency Medical Service for health assessment.
As reported by the manager of Skulte port, Igor Akulov, it is currently impossible to remove the pilot vessel from the ground due to the dense ice accumulation. The vessel is stable and poses no threat to the environment. "We need to wait for favorable weather conditions to remove the vessel from the ground," explained the port manager.
Due to the massive ice deposits, access to the vessel is virtually impossible, and movement in the port has been suspended. Skulte port is the fourth largest port in Latvia. The cargo turnover last year amounted to 1.017 million tons, which is 28% less than in 2024.
Leave a comment