The White Sea - Baltic Canal in Russia, dug by hand by Soviet prisoners

Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 18 July 2018 at 09:20:29 UTC
Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 30 July 2018 at 09:05:51 UTC
Author(s): Sentinel Vision team, VisioTerra, France - svp@visioterra.fr
Keyword(s): Marine traffic, marine safety, infrastructure, Russia, Baltic Sea, Arctic Ocean
Fig. 1 - COP-DEM; S2 (18 & 30.07.2018) - The White Sea–Baltic Canal runs 227 km, partially along several canalized rivers and Lake Vygozero.
3D view 3D view
The White Sea–Baltic Canal connects the White Sea (Arctic Ocean), with Lake Onega, which is further connected to the Baltic Sea (Atlantic Ocean) while bypassing Fennoscandia.
Fig. 2 - S2 (30.07.2018) - The southern section makes use of the existing outlet of lake Ladoga to the Baltic Sea.
3D view
It opened on 2 August 1933. As of 2008, it carries only light traffic of between ten and forty boats per day. Entirely too shallow for the planned use, its economic advantages are limited by its minimal depth.
Fig. 3 - S2 (18.07.2018) - The canal is frozen several months a year, preventing any traffic.
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The canal was hand-dug by forced labor of gulag inmates. Beginning and ending with a labor force of 126 000, between 12 000 and 25 000 laborers died according to official records
The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Space Agency or the European Union.
Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2025, processed by VisioTerra.
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