A documentary by Simone Pusch
Working on an icebreaker is an unusual and almost exotic profession. For Linda Svenson and her colleagues on the Swedish icebreaker Atle, it is part of their everyday life. Their mission is to keep shipping routes open in the Gulf of Bothnia during the winter and to help cargo ships navigate through the thick ice to and from the ports of northernmost Europe.
Linda on the firedrill
On board, the crew work, eat and live together for long periods – a way of life that can be hard to imagine for those who work on land. For Linda, it is rather a traditional nine-to-five job that feels alien. And leaving life at sea because she has become a mother has never been an option. For her, it’s about finding solutions that make it possible to have both a family life and a career at sea.
Communicating with the following vessel
During the winter months, large parts of the Bothnian Bay are covered in ice. To enable goods to be transported to and from the ports in northern Sweden, icebreakers are needed to keep the shipping lanes open. The Atle is one of the Swedish icebreakers that guides cargo and tanker ships through the ice and ensures that shipping can continue all year round.
Linda Svenson has worked as a mate on icebreakers for many years. When she trained to become a master mariner, women were still a rarity in the shipping industry. Today there are more of them, but Linda is still often met with surprise when she explains what she does for a living.
A bit more walking space than on deck
One question keeps coming up: What’s it like being the only woman on board? It’s a question Linda has grown tired of. For her, gender isn’t the key issue – she is first and foremost a mate and part of the crew.
She encounters even more preconceptions when the conversation turns to balancing life at sea with parenthood. “Surely you’ll have to give up your career when you have children?” is a comment she has heard many times.
Probing the thickness of the ice
But why would she do that? If all seafarers with children left the sea, the profession would look completely different. Nor is missing one’s family during the weeks spent on board something that only applies to mums. For Linda, it’s the same as for many others who work far from home: finding a way to make work and family life fit together.
BREAKING THE ICE follows Linda in her everyday life on board – from her work on the bridge and her interactions with the crew to her life between shifts and her contact with family and friends on shore. The film offers an insight into a world that few people get to experience, whilst challenging preconceptions about who belongs at sea.
Sharing spare time with a good friend.
It is a story about icebreaking and seafaring, but also about community, professional pride and the opportunity to choose both family and a life at sea.
Interested? See the trailer here