Overview
- The German couple attempted a 100-plus-mile ski crossing of the frozen Gulf of Bothnia toward Luleå, Sweden.
- While camped on the ice, surrounding sheets fractured, sweeping most of their equipment into the water and leaving them on a drifting floe.
- The Finnish Border Guard received a distress signal at about 6:30 a.m. and launched a search plane and a hovercraft, with Swedish aircraft joining the effort.
- Rescuers spotted the SOS arranged in ice and extracted the skiers roughly five hours after the alert; officials said they were cold but uninjured.
- Authorities described sea conditions as challenging, underscoring the hazards of seasonal ice travel and the value of visible signals and beacons.