JRL NEWSWATCH: “Siberian shipyard workers brave freezing cold for ‘the hardest job in the world'” – Reuters
“… The process of ‘vymorozka,’ which roughly translates as ‘freezing out,’ is backbreaking and tedious work that takes weeks in some of the world’s harshest conditions, with temperatures dropping to minus 50 degrees Celsius (-58 F). Workers chip away at the ice encasing the ships, looking for areas in need of repair … docked in the harbour of Yakutsk on the banks of the Lena River, Siberia’s economic lifeblood in summer, during the winter months. … The labourers must be sure not to cut the ice too quickly and break through …. If they do, the carved dugout can be submerged and the work … lost. The colder the weather, the better the ice freezes and the smoother the job, although the temperatures are hard ….”