"SOS on an ice floe" Germans stranded on an ice floe - then they get creative
Two Germans spend the night on the frozen Baltic Sea in the Gulf of Bothnia. Suddenly, the ice under their tent breaks away. Rescue only comes hours later.
16.03.2026, 15:24
dpa
Two German campers got into difficulties after spending the night on the frozen Baltic Sea between Finland and Sweden. The ice under their tent broke away in the early morning, as the Finnish border guard confirmed to the German Press Agency on Monday. The Bild newspaper had previously reported on the emergency, which had already occurred in the Gulf of Bothnia on Saturday.
The woman and the man were able to save themselves on a stable ice surface, while almost all of their equipment fell into the water. They used a radio beacon to make an emergency call - and used chunks of ice to write the letters SOS on the ice. Five hours later, the two were rescued by helicopter. According to the emergency services, they were very frozen but otherwise in good condition.
According to the border police, the two Germans wanted to cross the Baltic Sea between Oulu in Finland and the Swedish town of Luleå on skis. They had already set off from Oulu on March 9.
