600 fishermen taken off floating ice in the Sea of Okhotsk

Last people were delivered to shore at the Mordvinova Bay in the early hours of 29 January. 

Six hundred men ignored warnings from the local ministry of emergency and went ice fishing off the southern coast of the island of Sakhalin.

They got cut off when ice cracked 2 kilometres away from shore, with tide and wind widening the gap between the two parts of the ice field to more than 10 metres. 

Some of the fishermen made their way back to safety on ice floes, using ice diggers as oars.

Water temperature in that area of the sea of Okhotsk is -2C.

600 fishermen taken off floating ice in the Sea of Okhotsk. Pictures: Maksim Marchenko, Sakhalin Ministry of Emergency

Another ice floe with a group of fishermen on it (and the catch!) was taken across the water by rescuers pulling a fishing line.

The last group of 120 people was evacuated by three boats and a hovercraft. 

There were 15 rescuers involved in the evacuation, no injuries or frostbites were reported. 

‘Several hundred men decided to try their luck against common sense and despite multiple warnings about the treacherous ice’, said Sakhalin ministry of emergency in a statement after the end of the rescue operation.

A week ago 300 fishermen called for help after getting stranded on a large piece of floating ice next to Sakhalin’s Cape Svobodny. 

The weather in Sakhalin is mild at -1C. 

PADDLING TO SAFETY ON ICE FLOES, VIDEO COURTESY MAKSIM MARCHENKO