Never before at this time of year have so many vessels been rescued out of the ice, says Russia's nuclear icebreaker operator Rosatom. It has been an Arctic odyssey for the ships and crews that in November got stuck in sea-ice on the remote Northern Sea Route.

Quickly accumulating sea ice along the Northern Sea Route is creating a potentially critical situation along Russia’s east Arctic coast. For several weeks, a number of ships have been trapped in thick sea ice. Several ships have also been waiting to sail into the area.

A new study sheds light on some of the risks associated with Arctic shipping finding that vessels with lower ice-classes are up to 20 times more likely to become stuck in sea ice along Russia’s Northern Sea Route than vessels with higher levels of protection.

A container ship froze into the waters of Yenisei Bay in Russia’s Arctic. Traveling from Dudinka to Arkhangelsk, the ship got stuck in ice on December 13. The crew battled icing, but was not in danger. Three weeks later, the ship was able to break free. According to Atomflot, the ship did not have necessary permissions to sail along this section of the Northern Sea Route.