An East wind blew the ice into the Russian Ship. It got stuck 2 miles from open water. The wind is still blowing and forecast to blow for at least 3 more days. Gale force at times. Now the ship is 20 miles from open water. The ice is 3 to 4 meters thick. None of the ice breakers are capable of break 4 meter thick ice. It is hoped that 2 ice breakers working together might be able to reach her. The Chinese ship is not stuck, it is standing by waiting for another ice breaker to arrive and help. The next ice breaker is due in 24 hours.
Were I on the stuck ship I would be worried about a hull failure. 15 feet of ice driven by gale force winds will put a lot of pressure on the hull. Should all else fail the ship be be evacuated via helo from the Chinese ship.
I don’t know how much water tight integrity or ability to withstand hull penetration that the stuck ship would have. The more water tight compartments the better the hulls survival chances. I do know one thing. I would not want to be on that ship right now. Besides the possible risk issue if the power plant goes down that ship will get cold very fast. Steel is a great conductor of heat. It’s also a poor insulator from the cold.