German tourists trying to create floating sauna rescued from Swedish ice floe | Sweden

Five people carrying a sauna tent, a chainsaw and a built-in motor were rescued from an ice floe after losing control of their DIY boat in the Stockholm archipelago.

Swedish authorities believe the ice sheet’s occupants, German tourists, were trying to create their own motor-powered floating sauna when a wave from a passing passenger ferry broke the ice sheet and stranded them near Värmdö, an island near Stockholm.

The ferry crew rescued four people on Sunday, followed by a fifth man who stayed longer to collect his equipment, including a sauna, chainsaw, stand-up paddle board, Go-Pro camera and boat engine.

Stunned passengers watched as five figures stood in sub-zero temperatures on a narrow piece of breaking ice, surrounded by water, against a backdrop of snow-covered rocks and pine trees.

Those rescued were returned to shore in the port village of Stavsnäs, apparently unharmed, according to authorities.

“We think they loosened a floe of ice and got on top of it,” said Stockholm transport authority spokeswoman Carolina Wichman. “The weather was calm on Sunday, there was no wind. All ships passing through this area are quite calm and calm. However, boats in the area are affected by ice.”

While officials in the area are used to skaters having trouble and needing assistance on the ice in the winter, this incident is believed to be the first of its kind.

“In Stockholm and throughout Sweden, it is mostly ice skaters who, for various reasons, need help at sea or fall off the ice. It was quite an amazing sight,” Wichman said.

Johan Axberg, who witnessed the incident from the ferry,

“The boat carefully passed through the ice, but was broken up by the waves and the ice floe was dragged away. So the team went out and started collecting them,” he told broadcaster SVT. [the tourists] from the ice mass, because the ice mass was breaking up more and more.