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Icebreakers

The purpose of the Ice Operations Program (IO) is to provide the United States the capability and resources necessary to carry out and support national interests in the polar regions, to facilitate the movement of maritime transportation (commerce) through ice laden domestic waters, to carry out the International Ice Patrol, and to assist other governmental and scientific organizations in the pursuit of marine science activities. The Ice Operations Program supports the performance of other Coast Guard programs in waters constrained by ice.

Contingency preparedness responsibilities of the IO Program are to provide logistics and general support in the polar regions and ice covered domestic waters. At time of war or national emergency, the IO Program's resources continue their peacetime activities with slight change in emphasis.

As declared in a variety of legislation and presidential decision documents, the U.S. has significant economic, environmental, and security interests in the polar regions. Federal responsibility for promoting these interests has been assigned to the various agencies per their normal mandates. In a like manner, responsibility for developing and maintaining a fleet of icebreaking vessels capable of operating effectively in the heavy ice regions of the Arctic and Antarctic has been assigned to the Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard has been the sole U.S. operator of heavy icebreakers since the Navy's icebreakers were transferred to the Coast Guard in 1965. Because the Coast Guard required icebreakers to accomplish its own missions and would transfer to the Navy during time of war, this consolidation of icebreaking assets provided the management efficiencies and flexibility of a unified fleet. The (1990)President's Report on Polar Icebreaker Requirements has indicated a national need for three polar icebreakers operated by the Coast Guard plus one ice capable research vessel leased by the National Science Foundation.

Since FY 1983, the polar icebreakers have been funded under a variety of user reimbursement schemes. Currently, users pay a standard rate for transits, actual fuel consumed within the operating area, and two daily surcharges for vessel and helicopter maintenance. User reimbursement was imposed upon the Coast Guard to moderate potentially unlimited user requests for icebreakers, but uncertainties in user funding have led to inefficiencies. If a user drops a project, the other users must assume an additional share of the costs if the mission is to proceed or they must also drop out. As a result, missions may be cancelled with too little notice to schedule effective training or maintenance, and the vessel sits idle.

Domestic icebreaking is normally conducted for search and rescue and other emergency situations, prevention of flooding caused by ice, and facilitation of navigation for commerce.

The first of these reasons relates to the Coast Guard's statutory responsibility to carry out "traditional" Coast Guard missions (search and rescue, law enforcement, aids to navigation, etc.). These responsibilities do not cease when waters are covered by ice. The domestic icebreaker fleet provides the means to carry out these responsibilities in those U.S. waters that are covered with seasonal ice. The regions that are normally affected by ice formation are the Great Lakes, St. Lawrence Seaway, the northeast U.S. coast and Alaska.

The second reason is related to other Coast Guard measures to preserve lives and property. Icebreaking is done to alleviate flooding due to ice accumulation in rivers. Flood relief icebreaking may be conducted under the Coast Guard's broad authority to aid distressed persons and property, or in response to requests by federal, state, or local government agencies. This support of other agencies is provided in consultation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers which has federal responsibility for flood control.

Finally, by Executive Order, the Coast Guard has been directed to assist in keeping open to navigation, in so far as practicable, channels and harbors per the reasonable demands of commerce. During peacetime, this form of icebreaking is done primarily to ensure a regular navigation season on the Great Lakes, St. Lawrence Seaway, and the northeast U.S. coast and to ensure commercial fishing fleets can enter and leave icebound ports. During a war effort, however, this icebreaking practice serves a critical need to maintain marine transportation systems for strategic material movement.

Polar research depends heavily on ships capable of operating in ice-covered regions, either as research platforms in the Arctic and Southern Oceans or as key components of the logistics chain supporting on-continent research in Antarctica. Many areas in the Arctic and Antarctic are only accessible by ship. As the primary U.S. supporter of fundamental research in these regions, NSF is the primary customer of polar icebreaker and ice-strengthened vessel services for scientific research purposes.

The USCG has performed its icebreaking mission in Antarctica with distinction for many decades, but with increasing difficulty in recent years. Its two Polar Class icebreakers are nearing the end of their estimated lifetime and are becoming increasingly difficult and costly to keep in service.

In 1966 the Navy decided to give the Coast Guard total responsibility for icebreaker operations. In fact, the Navy transferred all of their remaining icebreakers to the nation's oldest continuous sea-going service and since that time the Coast Guard has been the sole U.S. military service conducting polar icebreaking cruises. In the mid 1970's the Coast Guard began painting all of its polar icebreakers' hulls red to make them easier for helicopter pilots to spot in the ice. The Mackinaw was exempted from the change.

In 1983-84 an interagency committee in Washington attempted to assess future U.S. requirements for polar icebreakers. The study group included representatives of the Coast Guard, Marad, DOD, NSF, NOAA, OMB and OST [Marad: Maritime Administration; DOD: Department of Defense represented by the Oceanographer of the Navy; NSF: National Science Foundation; NOAA: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration; OMB: Office of Management & Budget; OST: Office of the Secretary of Transportation]. The study was to assess the national need for a polar icebreaker fleet, recommend a fleet size to meet all requirements to the year 2000, and to develop financing options for the construction and operation of the fleet. Comprehensive analyses were performed on the status of the present fleet and alternatives to a federal polar icebreaker fleet. A survey of users was conducted to ascertain peacetime and wartime requirements. After nearly a year of discussion and debate an interagency report entitled "United States Polar Icebreaker Requirements Study" was published in July 1984. Several of the principal findings are that a A fleet of 4 ships should be maintained; the Coast Guard recommended a fifth ship remain in reserve for emergencies or possible increases in difficult-to-forecast, long-term polar requirements.

US operations in Antartica requires access to ships serving two quite different functions: multi-purpose icebreakers that can operate in the Southern Ocean as research platforms that also resupply our coastal Palmer Station on the Antarctic Peninsula; and heavy-duty icebreakers that can open a resupply channel through fast ice to McMurdo Station. From McMurdo, supplies are transferred to the U.S. research station at the South Pole and to temporary remote field stations at various points on the continent. These two requirements are met in quite different ways.

The USCG has performed its icebreaking mission in Antarctica with distinction for many decades, but with increasing difficulty in recent years. Its two Polar Class icebreakers are nearing the end of their estimated service lives and are becoming increasingly difficult and costly to keep in service. According to the USCG, there are several years of service life in the Polar Sea, but the Polar Star has now been placed in caretaker status per agreement with USCG in view of the decreasing need for her services and the high cost of putting her back into service.

Scientific research, and operational support of that research, is the principal activity supported in Antarctica by the United States Government. The goals are to expand fundamental knowledge of the region, to foster research on global and regional problems of current scientific importance, and to utilize the region as a platform from which to support research. For projects involving fieldwork, the USAP supports research that can only or can best be done in Antarctica.

The Program has been in continuous operation since the 1957-1958 International Geophysical Year and continuation into the foreseeable future is anticipated. U.S. activities in Antarctica support the Nation's adherence to the Antarctic Treaty, which reserves the region for peaceful purposes and encourages international cooperation in scientific research. At present, 45 nations adhere to the treaty, and 29 of them are involved in Antarctic field activities. The United States cooperates scientifically and operationally with many of the Antarctic Treaty nations.

The major logistics hub for the support of this science is McMurdo Station. McMurdo is located on Ross Island in the Southern edge of the Ross Sea. It is the furthest south exposed land to which a ship can sail. Under the current operations, the USCG icebreaker typically arrives at 60 deg S on or about December 25. Anticipated departure from McMurdo is mid-February of the following year (6-8 weeks after arrival). The basic tasks are to open a channel to the McMurdo Station pier, and escort a tanker and a freighter through the sea ice and channel to the pier and back to the open ocean as required. By 2008 the overriding question was how to open the channel through the ice to McMurdo Station so that year-round operation of the nation’s McMurdo and South Pole stations can continue. This year-round occupation is central to demonstrating the “active and influential presence” which is the cornerstone of U.S. policy in Antarctica as articulated in Presidential Memorandum No. 6646 on U.S. Antarctic Policy and Programs (February 5, 1982).

Given the rapidly escalating costs of government providers for icebreaking services and the uncertain availability of USCG icebreakers beyond 2010, it is NSF’s intention to seek competitive bids for icebreaking services that support the broad goals of the USAP. This competition will be open to commercial, government, and international service providers.

The Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, Admiral Thad Allen, made it one of his top three priorities to find a resolution to the state of the Polar Icebreaking program. In fiscal year 2006 the Committees on Appropriations approved an Administration request for the National Science Foundation (NSF), the primary user of the three Coast Guard polar icebreaker vessels, to fund the costs of operating and maintaining these aging vessels. Because it had become more apparent that the national interest in the polar regions extends beyond scientific research, the many began to question whether this arrangement should continue.

US interests require an active patrol presence in the waters north of Alaska (especially in the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas). The USCG Polar Class vessels are nearing the end of their intended service life and will need to be replaced soon to meet US Polar icebreaking needs. The USCG Naval Architecture Branch (ELC 023) was receiving an increasing number of internal questions related to Polar Class replacement vessels. Similarly the 140’ WTGB Icebreaking Tugs for use on the Great Lakes, rivers and coastal harbors, will also need replacement. To support planning for these vessel replacement programs, a study of the current state of the art in icebreaking vessel technology was required.

In the Arctic, the melting of polar ice packs is accelerating to the point that the National Snow and Ice Data Center has reported that the North Pole may briefly be ice free. The melting of polar ice is a catalyst for what appears to be increasing interest in the creation of new shipping passages, particularly in the Arctic, as well as a new scramble for the assertion of national control over natural resources. As shipping traffic increases in the polar regions, the Coast Guard may need to expand its presence to provide many of its traditional services, including search and rescue operations. Additionally, icebreaking capacity is required to resupply the Antarctic research station McMurdo.

With some climate models predicting an ice-free Arctic summer in the future, more international expeditions will be headed to the region to examine newly revealed oil and gas reserves and other natural resources. Canada, Russia, and other countries will begin to compete with the United States over jurisdiction and, without a strong polar icebreaker fleet, our Nation will suffer a severe disadvantage.

By 2008 the Coast Guard had less polar icebreaking capacity than at any time since World War II. The service’s two heavy icebreakers, the Polar Star and the Polar Sea, had both exceeded their intended 30-year service lives. The Polar Star has been placed on caretaker status. The Polar Sea was scheduled to undergo a major maintenance. Both vessels would need hundreds of millions of dollars of repairs and upgrades if they are to continue in service. The Coast Guard’s only other polar icebreaker, the cutter Healy, was commissioned in 2000 and has many years of service life left. Unfortunately, the Healy does not offer the same icebreaking capabilities as the Polar Star or the Polar Sea.

Over 22 percent of the world’s energy supply is under the Arctic ice cap. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has stated that Russia should unilaterally claim part of the Arctic, stepping up the race for the disputed energy-rich region. Russia has a fleet of 20 heavy ice breakers and is nearing completion of the first of their newest fleet of nuclear-powered icebreakers in an effort to control energy exploration and maritime trade in the region. By the end of the Bush Administration, the United States had only one functioning heavy polar icebreaker, and it had only six years left of useful life.

Traditionally, the Coast Guard’s polar icebreaking missions were conducted largely in support of the National Science Foundation, which pays the Healy’s operating and maintenance costs. However, the NSF has suggested that alternatives not involving the use of military vessels may meet its research needs in a more cost-effective manner. If so, the Government must examine whether the United States should build new icebreakers and what specific purposes they could serve.

For fiscal year 2008, the Senate authorized the appropriation of whatever amounts were necessary to acquire two new icebreakers and to achieve and maintain full operational capability of the rest of the agency's icebreaker fleet (currently three ships). CBO estimates that implementing section 917 would increase discretionary spending by $165 million in 2008 and nearly $1.5 billion over 2008-2012 period, assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts. A 2007 report by the National Academy of Sciences found that the United States needs to maintain polar icebreaking capacity and construct at least two new polar icebreakers. This provision follows those recommendations.

In testimony before both houses of Congress, Mead Treadwell, Chair of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission (USARC), encouraged the United States to prepare for significantly greater shipping in the Arctic Ocean as climate change, improved technology and demand for Arctic resources make northern seaways more accessible. In hearings of the House Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on July 16, 2008, and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on June 24, 2008, Treadwell cited the central role the Arctic plays in global air transportation, and predicts a similar role for the Arctic Ocean in shipping. Treadwell noted that the Senate’s preference to build two new polar class icebreakers as Coast Guard Authorization Act for fiscal year 2008 was based on economic factors as well as on security and science concerns, as testified to by Admiral Thad Allen, Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard, and Dr. Arden Bement, Director, National Science Foundation. Treadwell cited seven “billion dollar, if not trillion-dollar” economic issues in the Arctic that help justify an approximate $1.5 billion investment in new U.S. polar class icebreakers.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert C. Byrd unveiled a $56.2 billion economic recovery package on 25 September 2008. The Senate Democratic plan provided $925 million to the Coast Guard with for construction of a new polar ice-breaking ship. They stated that this would provide what the Navy and the Air Force call, “an essential instrument of U.S. policy” in the region. Constructing a new Coast Guard icebreaker will ensure that the United States has the ability to respond to the growing risks presented by increased activity in the Arctic and protects U.S. environmental, economic, homeland security and national security interests in both Polar Regions.

R/V RVIB Nathaniel B. Palmer

In 1992 the National Science Foundation decided to name its newly chartered 94-meter-long antarctic research icebreaker the Nathaniel B. Palmer. Completed in March 1992 by Edison Chouest Offshore in Louisiana, the brand-new ship headed for its first assignment, to rotate and later remove research crews from the U.S.- Russian Ice Camp Weddell. The ship, Nathaniel B. Palmer, is a first-rate platform for global change studies, including biological, oceanographic, geological, and geophysical components. It can operate safely year-round in Antarctic waters that often are stormy or covered with sea ice. It accommodates 37 scientists, has a crew of 22, and is capable of 75-day missions. The ship provides support to the United States Antarctic Program (USAP), in various regions of the Antarctic and Southern Oceans. Primary functions include supporting oceanographic research activities in the open ocean and in ice, as well as land-based station and field programs as required.

The ship is named the Nathaniel B. Palmer to commemorate the American credited with first seeing Antarctica. Nathaniel Brown Palmer, then 21 years old, commanded the 14-meter sloop Hero, which on 16 and 17 November 1820 entered Orleans Strait and came very close to the Antarctic Peninsula at about 63° 45' S. Later in his life, Palmer also won wealth and fame as a pioneer clipper ship master and designer.

In August of 1992 the National Science Foundation's new research vessel, the Nathaniel B. Palmer, began a 3-week winter deployment to the Weddell Sea, the South Orkney Islands, and the South Shetland Islands in Antarctica. The ship operated in mid-winter ice conditions including first year and second year ice, and the deployment presented a unique opportunity to measure ice impact loads on various regions of the hull. The Nathaniel B. Palmer has a conventional icebreaking bow shape but about half the displacement of the Polar Class icebreakers and the Swedish icebreaker Oden. Comparing the ice loads measurements of the Nathaniel B. Palmer with ice load measurements on other ships in similar ice conditions provides an assessment of the effect of vessel displacement with respect to local ice loads. The August 1992 deployment of the Nathaniel B. Palmer was the first time that this approach had been used in a full-scale ice loads measurement program.

Ship performance tests were conducted during the winter 1992 Antarctic tests of the RV NATHANIEL B. PALMER. The objective was to measure the performance of the ship in both open water and ice based on data on environmental and ship operating conditions available from the ship's data collection system, propulsion system data available from the propulsion dynamics test team, and ice properties data available from the ice measurements test team. The open water performance of the ship was evaluated by measuring the calm open water resistance, the resistance in waves, the seakeeping characteristics, the effectiveness of the roll stabilization system, and the open water manoeuvrability of the ship. The icebreaking performance of the ship was evaluated by measuring the level ice resistance, the resistance in broken ice, the ramming performance of the ship in thick ice, the effectiveness of the heeling system in enhancing the icebreaking performance of the ship, and the manoeuvrability of the ship in ice. The operation performance of the vessel was of special interest because of her uniqueness as an icebreaking oceanographic research ship designed for good open water performance, good seakeeping performance, and good icebreaking performance, while also being designed for flat plate construction to the greatest extent possible in order to minimize construction costs.

The ship is owned and operated by Edison Chouest Offshore, Inc (ECO). ECO provides for the safe operation and maintenance of the ship, and helps in the efforts of the scientific program on board.

The research vessel R/V NATHANIEL B. PALMER was operated under charter to Antarctic Support Associates (ASA) for the National Science Foundation (NSF). Antarctic Support Associates (ASA) is a $100 million government service provider. Its purpose is to support work sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to expand the horizons of science in one of the most extreme environments on earth. ASA managed the ship through the means of a time-charter with the owner, Edison Chouest Offshore, Inc (ECO). ASA oversees the charter and provides management and logistic support for the NSF programs using the ship. On board the ship, the senior ASA representative is the Marine Projects Coordinator (MPC), who functioned as the charterer's representative on site, and was responsible for expediting the science program.

On 29 October 1999 Raytheon Company was awarded a $1.12 billion contract by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to provide science, operations and maintenance support services for the United States Antarctic Program. Raytheon Polar Services Company (RPSC), Centennial, Colo., a business unit of the Raytheon Company, was selected by the NSF to be the primary support contractor, providing operations and maintenance support for all U.S. research efforts. Raytheon Polar Services exists specifically to meet the needs of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Office of Polar Programs. The main function of RPSC is to provide support to the United States Antarctic Program, which is dedicated to sustaining the Antarctic environment and funding scientists who conduct research in Antarctica. Raytheon operated the logistics pipeline to all Antarctic facilities and provide research vessel charter, small aircraft operations, food procurement and food services, medical services and waste management in support of scientists deployed to Antarctic bases, field camps and ships such as NSF's research vessels Nathaniel B. Palmer and Laurence M. Gould.

Living arrangements on the NBP are comfortable, and consist of two bunks, a head and a shower. The chief scientist and MPC cabins have dayrooms as well as the sleeping compartment. All cabins are equipped with a TV/VCR, stereo, telephone and a LAN jack for connection to the network. This network access includes the ability to connect to the ship's primary data acquisition computer system for viewing and logging data. With the exception of the chief scientist cabin on the 03, most grantee and all RPSC berthing is on the O1 Deck, which is on the same level as the Sauna and Gym. Laundry facilities are provided on each level. Please use the laundry on the same floor as your room.

The 02 Lounge is open 24 hours a day for everyone's use and is stocked with more than 150 movies. A small book library is also housed in the 03 Conference Room for all to use, but please return any borrowed book right after you have finished reading it. This is a donation-only library, so feel free to leave any books aboard that will lighten the load on the way home. They will be greatly appreciated. The Conference Room also has a TV and VCR which is open for use to all as well. Another lounge is available on the 04 Level. Please consider this a last resort if the other movie areas are busy, and ask the mate on watch for permission first as Edison Chouest sometimes uses this area for training and other meetings.

The NBP's Workout Room is equipped for both weight and endurance training. A universal weight machine, treadmill, rowing machine and exercise bike occupy the weight room. Just across the passageway is a sauna for relaxing after a hard day's work or workout. This area is open 24 hours a day as well, but please keep the volume down on both your voice and the stereo as there are people sleeping 24 hours a day on the 01 Level.

The Mess Hall is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and is located all the way forward on the starboard side of the Main Deck. Please refrain from wearing greasy or dirty work clothes in the Mess. Edison Chouest will provide vegetarian meals upon request. If you have special dietary interests or needs, please contact the MPC to see if they can be accommodated.

Type of Vessel: Antarctic Research Vessel Ice Breaker Builder: North American Shipbuilding, Larose, Louisiana Year of Construction: 1992 Installed Power: 12,720 Horsepower from four Caterpillar Diesels Ice-breaking capability: rated at 3 feet of ice at 3 knots Length Overall: 308 Feet (93.9 Meters) Breadth (Molded): 60 Feet (18.3 Meters) Depth: 22.5 Feet (6.9 Meters) Maximum Draft (Loadline): 19.417 (5.9 Meters)

Nathaniel B. Palmer Vessel Data

00	Main vessel activity
	Oceanography Icebreaking Capabilities
01	Institution and vessel
	11 Ocean area where vessel operates: Below 60S, Southern Ocean
	12 Vessel's flag: USA
	13 Owner: Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO)
	14 Operator: Contact: Captain David A. McWilliams Antarctic Support Associates (ASA) 61 Inverness Drive East, Suite 300 Englewood, CO 80112 USA Telephone No.: 303 790-8606 Telex No: Cable address: Telefax No.: 790-9130 Email: mcwillda@glacier.asa.org
	15 Vessel's name: Nathaniel B. Palmer NODC Code: 3206 Call Sign:
	16 Yard where built:
	17 Year built: 91
	18 Institution planning cruise program:
02	Main dimensions		04	Range, speed and endurance
	11 Length OA: 94.03m			11 Range: 21000n. mi.
	12 Length BP:			12 Cruising speed: 12.0kts .
	13 Breadth: 18.29m			13 Max. speed: 16.5kts.
	14 Freeboard to working deck: 0.0m			14 Endurance: 90days
	15 Max. draft : 6.63m
03	Capacities and working spaces		05	Accommodation
	11 Gross tonnage: 6640GRT			11 Officers: 6
	12/13 Dry cargo holds: 0m3			12 Other crew: 16
	14 Fuel: 1740m3			13/14 Scientists: 37
	15 Fresh water: 215m3			15 Airconditioned: yes
	16 Ballast water:
	17 Wet laboratories (total area): 0m2
	18 Dry laboratories (total area): 0m2
	19 Hold for fresh fish:
	20 Hold for frozen fish:
	21 Refrigerated sea water tanks:
	22 Bait tanks:
	23 Fresh water generator capacity: 0m3
	24 Free working deck area: 0m2
	25 Space for container laboratory: 0m x 0m
06	Design Particulars
	10	Hull materials
		Steel
	20	Energy sources
		21 Main engine(s): number: 4 make: Diesel model:
		22 Power (BHP) each main engine: 13200at 900rpm
		23 Diameter and max. rpm propeller: 4.000m 0rpm
		24 Total power auxiliary diesels: 5600HP
		25 Electrical systems
		25.1 AC Voltage: 120 / 480V, total 0kVA, 3phase, 60Hz
		25.2 AC Voltage: / 240V, total 0kVA, 3phase, 60Hz
		25.3 DC Voltage: 24V, total 0V
		25.4 Stabilized system for scientific equipment: 0VAC 0AMP 0Hz
	30	Storage	40	Manoeuvring and propulsion
		31 Fish in bulk		41 CP Propeller
		32 Fish on ice		42 Side thruster
		33 Chilled sea water		42.1 Bow 42.2 Side
		34 Refrigerated sea water		43 Propeller nozzle
		35 Cold storage of samples		43.1 Fixed 43.2 Steering
		36 Water samples		44 Dynamic positioning
		37 Geological samples		45 Bow anchor(s)
		38 Biological samples		46 Stern anchor(s)
		39 Space for portable instruments		47 Deepsea anchor
07	Fixed equipment
	10	Navigation and communication
		Nav. equip: Radar SatNav Gyro DopLog
		Comms: Fax SatCom
		Comm sat:
		GPS:
	20	Acoustic
		22 Echosounders for scientific research: 3kHz 12kHz
		24 Sonar: Fisheries
		27 Provisions for silent ship operation:
	30	Fishing
	40	Oceanographic
		41 Oceanographic winches: number: 3 41.1 Steel wire length: 9999m, safe working load: 0tons 41.2 Conducting cable length: 9999m, safe working load: 0tons 41.3 Other, specify: Ctd Winch length: 9999m safe working load: 0tons
		42 Winch for bottom sampling, wire length: 9999m, safe working load: 0tons
		44 Gantry 44.1 Position: Stern, Midships 44.2 Clearance above deck: 0m and outboard extension: 0m 44.3 Safe working load at max. reach: 20tons
		45 Crane 45.1 Position: Stern, Midships 45.2 Max reach: 9m and outboard extension: 0m 45.3 Safe working load at max. reach: 1tons
		46 Other winches for instruments or sampling:
	50	Electronic data processing equipment permanently available on board
		51/52 Computers: RK
	60	Fish preservation
	70	Workboats and other auxiliary craft carried by vessel
08	Use of vessel
	10	Fishing methods
	20	Fisheries research and development
	30	Marine sciences
		31Physical oceanography
		32 Chemical oceanography
		33 Biological oceanography
		34 Meteorology
		35 Geology
		36 Geophysics
		37 Pollution
13	Vessel construction and maintenance supervision
	10	Construction supervised by:
		11 Classification Society:
		12 Others, specify:

http://continuouswave.com/boats/bristolBay/">USCGC BRISTOL BAY wtgb-140-bay-line1.gif

WTGB-140 Bay-class Large Icebreaking Tug

Length: 140 feet Beam: 37.5 feet Displacement: 662 tons Power plant: Two diesel engines Commissioned: 1979-1988 Displacement: 690 tons full load Length: 140 feet Beam: 37 feet Speed: 14.7 knots Power Plant: Diesel electric, one shaft, 2,500 bhp Icebreaking Capability: 22 inches at 3 knots continuous Range: 1,500 at full speed, 4,000 at 12 knots, 7,000 at 7 knots Armament: Two .50-caliber machine guns Complement: 17 Builder: WTGBs 101-106, Tacoma Boat Building; WTGBs 107-109, Bay City Marine

The 140-foot Bay-class Cutters are state of the art icebreakers used primarily for domestic ice breaking duties. These small inland waterway tug/icebreakers keep waterways open for local traffic. They are named after American Bays and are stationed mainly in Northeast US and Great Lakes. In addition to icebreaking, the Bay-class cutters are used for search and rescue, enforcement of laws and treaties, deployment of marine environmental protection equipment, port safety operations, and support for aids-to-navigation. Two vessels utilize barges to service floating aids to navigation on the Great Lakes.

They incorporate an advanced hull design and engineering plant, along with a hull air lubrication (bubbler) system, for effective icebreaking and winter flood relief operations. WTGBs use a low-pressure-air hull lubrication or bubbler system that forces air and water between the hull and ice. This system improves icebreaking capabilities by reducing resistance against the hull, reducing horsepower requirements. The Bay-class cutters embody the Coast Guard minimally manned cutter concept for personal economy.

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter KATMAI BAY (WTGB-101) was commissioned in Cleveland, Ohio on 8 January 1979. KATM&I BAY is the lead ship of a new class of ice-breaking tugboat designed to have greater multi-mission capabilities than the 110-foot (33.5-meter) WYTM. The most significant differences include: greater horsepower; greater speed; longer range; increased ice-breaking capability; a hull lubrication system; greater degree of automation; and better habitability.

KATMAI BAY is equipped with two diesel engines capable of delivering 2500 shaft horsepower (1864 kilowatts). The diesel engines drive two 125 kW generators which supply power for an electric motor that, drives the main propulsion shaft., The ship is equipped with a single rudder mounted on the centerline of the ship. KATMAI BAY is equipped with a bubbler system which can emit air from four manifolds near the keel. Air is emitted from the manifolds while the ship is operating in ice and causes an upward flow of air and water which lubricates the ice-hull interface. This flow of air and water causes a reverse thrust to be applied to the ship.

Tactical and maneuvering trials and speed versus shaft rpm trials conducted on United States Coast Guard Cutter KATMAI BAY (WTGB-101) in 1979. KATMAI BAY is the lead ship of a new class of icebreaking tugboats. The trials were conducted in Whitefish Bay, Lake Superior, Michigan. Tactical data determined that the ship had a tactical diameter of approximately three ship lengths when using 30 degrees rudder. Maneuvering data indicated that the ship could stop in 40 seconds with a reach of four ship lengths from an approach speed of 12.8 knots when ordering full astern power. Ship's speed versus propeller shaft rpm trials indicate that the ship can obtain a speed of 14.7 knots at an average rpm of 303.7.

In June 2008 the United States Coast Guard Maintenance & Logistics Command, Atlantic announced that it intended to issue a Commercial Request for Quote (RFQ) Requirements Contract which will consist of One (1) Base Year and Four (4) Option Years for Scheduled and Emergency Drydock Repairs to the 140 FOOT WTGB GREAT LAKES ICEBREAKING TUGS AND 120 FOOT BARGES. The acquisition will be solicited as a Small Business Set-Aside. The five (5) vessel’s and their homeports that will be covered under this contract are (1) CGC Katmai Bay-(WTGB-101) / Sault Ste Marie, MI, (2) CGC Bristol Bay- (WTGB-102) / Detroit, MI, Plus 120 Foot Barge, (3) CGC Mobile Bay-(WTGB-103) / Sturgeon Bay, WI, Plus 120 Foot Barge, (4) CGC Biscayne Bay-(WTGB-104) / ST Ignace, MI (5) CGC Neah Bay-(WTGB-105) / Cleveland, OH. These vessels are geographically restricted to the Great Lakes. All work will be performed at the contractor’s facility. The performance period is forty-nine (49) calendar days for those vessels without barges and fifty-six (56) calendar days for those vessels with barges.

140-foot WTGBs in Service: KATMAI BAY (WTGB 101) Sault Ste. Marie, MI BRISTOL BAY (WTGB 102) Detroit, MI MOBILE BAY (WTGB 103) Sturgeon Bay, WI BISCAYNE BAY (WTGB 104) St. Ignace, MI NEAH BAY (WTGB 105) Cleveland, OH MORRO BAY (WTGB 106) New London, CT [slated for September 1998 decommissioning] PENOBSCOT BAY (WTGB 107) Bayonne, NJ THUNDER BAY (WTGB 108) Rockland, ME STURGEON BAY (WTGB 109) Bayonne, NJ USCGC Northwind [Staten Island] (WAGB-278) USCGC Eastwind (WAGB-279) USCGC Southwind [Atko] (WAGB-280) USCGC Westwind (WAGB-281) USCGC Northwind (WAGB-282) USCGC Burton Island (WAGB-283) USCGC Edisto (WAGB-284)

WAGB-278 Northwind

The "Winds" were the first class of true icebreakers built by the US. They were heavily armed and carried a Grumman J2F amphibian. Gibbs & Cox of New York provided the designs with input from the Coast Guard's Naval Engineering Division. The final design was heavily influenced by studies conducted by then LCDR Edward Thiele of foreign icebreakers, namely the Swedish Ymer and the Soviet Krassin. In 1966, the US Navy transferred its 5 active Wind Class icebreakers to the Coast Guard, who then acquired two additional vessels.

Eastwind and Southwind were the only two Wind Class icebreakers to see active service during the war. Both were involved with the capture of the German trawler Extersteine in Greenland. Eastwind participated in the first Deep Freeze cruise. These were annual voyages to resupply U.S. bases in Antarctica. She was also active in cruises through the arctic, resupplyied early-warning bases there as well as in Greenland, became the first cutter to circumnavigate the globe during a 1960-1961 operation, assisted vessels in distress or freed those trapped by ice, circumnavigated the globe again during Operation Deep Freeze '67, and broke ice on the Great Lakes. She survived a deadly collision with the tanker Gulfstream in 1949 although 13 crewmen perished.

The Eastwind became the first cutter to ever circumnavigate the globe in 1960 when she departed Boston on 25 October 1960, transited the Panama Canal, crossed the Pacific Ocean, visited New Zealand and the McMurdo Sound Station, Antarctica, and sailed home via the Indian Ocean. She sailed through the Suez Canal, the Mediterranean Sea, through the Straits of Gibraltar, and arrived back at Boston in May, 1961. She was decommissioned and sold in 1972.

The Westwind was transferred to the Soviet Union in 1945 and they renamed her Severni Pulius. She sailed under the Communist flag for six years until the Soviets returned her to the U.S. in 1951. After being refurbished, the Coast Guard recommissioned her on 22 September 1952 as Westwind once again. A new stack was added during an extensive renovation conducted in 1974-1975. The renovations included the strengthening of her bow and stern areas, replacement of her engines, widening her propeller shaft diameter from 19 to 22 inches, and a new "Icebreaker Red" paint scheme. She stayed in service for another thirteen years and was formally decommissioned in 1988.

After seeing service on the Greenland Patrol, and assisting the Eastwind in capturing the German trawler Externsteine, Southwind was transferred to the Soviet Union on 23 March 1945. The Soviets renamed her Admiral Mararov ("The father of the modern icebreaker," according to the Soviets). She served in the Soviet Navy until 1950 when she was returned to the US Navy. The Navy renamed her Atka, and she once again changed hands in 1966 when the Navy transferred all remaining Navy icebreakers to the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard christened her Southwind on 18 January 1967. She remained in service until 1976, when she was decommissioned and sold.

The Staten Island was originally named Northwind and was transferred to the Soviet Union on 26 February 1944. The Soviets named her Severni Veter and later Admiral Makarov. She was returned to US control and commissioned as a U.S. Navy icebreaker in 1951 and was renamed Northwind. To avoid confusion with her Coast Guard "sister," WAGB-282, the Navy renamed her Staten Island on 15 April 1952. Staten Island was transferred to the Coast Guard and commissioned in the nation's oldest sea service on 1 February 1965 after the Navy decided to cede all icebreaking vessels and all icebreaking responsibilities to the Coast Guard in 1965-1966. She was decommissioned in 1974 and sold the next year.

WAGB-282 Northwind was the second Wind Class icebreaker named Northwind. The first was transferred to the Soviet Union before WAGB-282 was launched. 282 was commissioned in the Coast Guard as the Northwind on 28 July 1945 and stayed in service until she was decommissioned in 1989.

The Burton Island was originally a US Navy icebreaker but she was transferred to the Coast Guard on 15 December 1966. She remained in service until 1978.

The Edisto was originally a US Navy icebreaker but was transferred to the Coast Guard and commissioned into service on 20 October 1965. She was decommissioned in 1974.

http://www.glaciersociety.org/ http://www.ussglacier.com/ USCGC Glacier (WAGB-4)

WAGB-4 GLACIER

Glacier was the only ship of its class and represented the “Glacier” class of icebreakers, a scaled-up version of the “Wind” class, and had extended range, heavier ice-breaking capability and extended mission duration. The ship supported numerous polar scientific explorations, made several Antarctic landings and penetrations not previously accomplished, and performed a number of international ship rescues. The Glacier was originally a US Navy icebreaker but was transferred and commissioned into the Coast Guard on 30 June 1966 after Glacier was originally commissioned in 1955 in the US Navy. She was decommissioned in 1987 and was eventually turned into a museum ship.

When commissioned May 27, 1955, Glacier was the free world’s largest and most powerful icebreaker, designed to break ice up to 20 feet thick, and considered a prototype in icebreaker construction. The ship, named for Glacier Bay off the Alaskan coast, was built for the U.S. Navy by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation of Pascagoula, Mississippi and launched August 27, 1954. Her many innovations were state-of-the-art and her subsequent 33-year service history with the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard demonstrated outstanding performance.

The Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp., Pascagoula, Miss., launched the fourth Glacier (AGB-4) and commissioned 27 May 1955 Comdr. E. H. Maher in command. Glacier’s keel was laid on August 3, 1953. Her yard hull number was 580. Built by Ingalls Shipbuilding, the Navy supervised all details of Glacier’s design and construction. Glacier was the first icebreaker constructed in a U.S. shipyard following World War II.

Glacier’s curved bow is of the standard icebreaker shape that causes the ship to ride up on heavy ice and break it downward with the vessel’s weight. The steel hull is 1-5/8 inches thick by the bow. The stern has a notch where the bow of a towed vessel can be entered to prevent ice from flowing between the two ships. Since Glacier was designed for extensive non-stop voyages, exceptionally good crew quarters and facilities were required along with large storage for fuel and provisions. The ship’s hull is made up of a heavy exterior shell and a lighter interior shell. All-welded steel construction was used throughout. The shells are joined by strut framing, transverse, and longitudinal bulkheads. The tanks formed this way are used for fuel and water storage, heeling operations, and voids. This construction also provided a smooth surface on the interior of the vessel. Her intended Arctic missions necessitated a cargo hold, an oceanographic research office, a helicopter flight deck, and hangar. Since she was a warship, Glacier was originally armed with guns for anti-aircraft and surface firing.

The 8,915-ton displacement vessel is 309.6 feet in length with a beam of 74 feet, draft of 28.5 feet, maximum propulsion of 21,000 horsepower, and propellers of 17-1/2 feet in diameter. The ship has a top speed of 18.6 knots and a range of 29,200 nautical miles at 12 knots.

Icebreaker Glacier's shakedown cruise and maiden voyage were combined in her important role in Operation "Deep Freeze". Her first encounter with the ice came on December 1955, when after breaking through the Ross Ice Pack, she carved out an ice harbor in Kainan Bay to permit the offloading of cargo ships at the site for Little America V. Glacier subsequently continued 400 miles west to break ice into an offloading site for the establishment of the Naval Air Facility at McMurdo Sound. In March 1956 an exploratory voyage around the Weddel Sea was completed; the icebreaker surveyed Vincennes Bay in Wilkes Land and made the first landing in history on the Princess Martha and Princess Astrid coasts. Glacier returned to Boston, her home port, 6 May 1956 after these accomplishments.

The ship returned to McMurdo Sound 28 October 1956 as spearhead for Deep Freeze II, having made the earliest seasonal penetration in history through the dangerous ice belt. After supply deliveries there and at Little America, she led seven other Navy ships from New Zealand through the ice pack to the two Antarctic base sites. In January 1947 [sic; 1957] she led two cargo ships into Vincennes Bay where the last of the seven American bases for the International Geophysical Year was to be constructed. Glacier departed Wilkes Station 17 February for the United States via Melbourne with the termination of the operation.

During Deep Freeze III and the IGY of 1957-58, Glacier participated as a launching platform for extensive "rockoon" tests during which balloon-lifted rockets gained information useful to the "Explorer" space satellite program. In addition, the icebreaker continued her usual ice clearing and escort duties and conducted oceanographic studies in the Ross Sea.

The summer of 1958 found G1acier at the opposite end of the earth as she escorted ships participating in Operation Sunec for the resupply of North Polar radar and weather stations. By November of that year, however, she was again near the South Pole at McMurdo Sound, and after supplying the base steamed to Little America V to begin deactivation of that station. Subsequently, while operating in the Terra Nova Bay on the coast of Victoria Land, she discovered two previously unknown islands and what was possibly the largest Emperor penguin rookery in the Antarctic, home of over 50,000 of the large birds. Glacier came to the assistance of the Belgian expedition ship Polarhav near Breid Bay, halfway around the Antarctic continent from the Ross Sea area.

Fifth of the Navy's Antarctic support operations, Deep Freeze 60 (for the season 1959 60) took the ship once more to McMurdo and on a tour of exploration into the Bellingshausen Sea. Oceanographic and cartographic studies were discontinued in late February 1960 when Glacier steamed to assist Argentine icebreaker General San Martin and Danish cargo ship Kista Dan. With these missions accomplished, Glacier sailed for Boston via Rio de Janeiro, and while at that port provided emergency assistance to flooded areas in Brazil, finally sailing for Boston 17 April 1960.

The icebreaker departed Boston 13 October 1960 on her sixth Antarctic voyage and reached Port Lyttelton, N.Z., 21 November to unload cargo. Most of December was spent in breaking a 21-mile channel through McMurdo Sound to open the way for the thin-hulled supply ships. Following a return voyage to Wellington for repairs and to receive the Navy Unit Commendation for her Bellingshausen achievement of the preceding expedition, she again entered the ice-chocked Amundsen and Bellingshausen Seas on a voyage of exploration and discovery. Oceanographic work continued until March 1961 when she sailed for Boston, arriving 27 April.

Underway again 8 October 1961 for Deep Freeze 62, she loaded cargo at Port Lyttelton in early November and encountered the Ross Sea ice pack 13 November, reaching McMurdo Sound by the end of the month. After repairs at Wellington Glacier returned to McMurdo and pressed on to the site of Little America V for cartographic studies. She returned to New Zealand 6 March 1962 and subsequently put in at Boston 5 May after steaming 36,000 miles.

The busy ship stood out of Boston 17 September for Deep Freeze 63, entering the pack ice 6 November and reaching the edge of the fast bay ice of McMurdo Sound a week later. The thickness of the ice necessitated repairs at Wellington, by 31 December 1962 G1acier was again churning through McMurdo Sound enroute to McMurdo Station. She continued operations off McMurdo Station through 1965. One of her many duties was to keep the channel open for supply ships. On 29 December 1965 Atka (AGB-3) and Burton Island (AGB-1) assisted her in pushing an iceberg out of the shipping lane. After further participation in her 11th Operation "Deep Freeze," Glacier returned to her home port, Boston, Mass., in the late spring of 1966. On 1 July 1966 G1acier was struck from the Navy List after transfer to the Coast Guard 30 June.

Glacier continued service of the Arctic and Antarctic regions under the U.S. Coast Guard until decommissioning in May 1987. Glacier made ten voyages to the Arctic and twenty-nine to the Antarctic logging over 944,000 miles in support of scientific research by opening vital channels to allow supply ships to reach research stations and remote settlements.

In 2001, the U.S Department of Transportation transferred Glacier to the Glacier Society, a non-profit educational foundation headquartered in Bridgeport, Connecticut. A stated mission of the Glacier Society was to provide assistance to the indigenous peoples in the Arctic Basin of the eight circumpolar countries by delivering needed medical care to remote coastal areas together with supporting polar medical and environmental research and conducting educational programs. These services were to be delivered by the restored and reconfigured former USS/USCGC Glacier to be known as the MV Glacier GB4. As of 2008 GLACIER was anchored in San Fransisco, CA at Suisan Bay on the Sacramento River. It is located near the town of Benicia, approximately 1-hour northeast of San Francisco. It can be seen from I-680, so next time you're nearby, give it a look.

Displacement 8,650 t. Length 310' Beam 74' Draft 29' Speed 16 kts. Complement 16 Officers, 232 Enlisted Air Detachment Complement 4 Officers, 10 Enlisted Aircraft two helicopters Armament one twin 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount three twin 3"/50 dual purpose gun mounts Propulsion ten Fairbanks-Morse diesel engines in three engine rooms connected through Main Control to two General Electric electric propulsion motors

WAGB-83 Mackinaw

MACKINAW (WAGB-83) was constructed during World War II in response to the need to keep shipping active during the winter months to maintain production of steel. For this purpose, Congress authorized the construction of a state of the art icebreaker to be permanently stationed in the Great Lakes. Her keel was laid on 20 March 1943 at the Toledo Shipbuilding Company by the American Shipbuilding and Drydock Company. MACKINAW (WAGB-83) was commissioned on 20 December 1944. She began operations by the end of December of that year, homeported in Cheboygan, Michigan. She was a variant of the WIND Class polar icebreaker. Her design was made longer with a wider beam and shallower draft to allow her to operate in the Great Lakes.

The name Mackinaw has its roots in the ancient Native American language of the Great Lakes. Specifically, it is derived from the word Michilimackinac in the Ojibwa language, meaning “Island of the Great Turtle”. Both Mackinaw (the English derivation) and Mackinac (the French derivation where “ac” is pronounced “aw”) are derived from this word and pronounced (Mak’inô).

The design of the Mackinaw was based on the Wind Class but was wider and longer, modifications that decreased her draft, a necessary precondition for service on the Great Lakes. Additionally, her hull was made of mild steel. She was to have been named Manitowoc but the Navy had already assigned that name to a frigate. Built by the Toledo Shipbuilding Co., Ohio, the MACKINAW cost 10 million dollars when completed. The MACKINAW's keel was laid on March 20, 1943, and the icebreaker was commissioned on December 20, 1944. Its permanent homeport is Cheboygan, Michigan."

The Coast Guard Cutter MACKINAW was specially designed and built for icebreaking on the Great Lakes. Built to smash a channel through ice seven feet [2 meters] thick, the new Coast Guard icebreaker MACKINAW has started her rugged duty on the Great Lakes. Costing $10,000,000, the MACKINAW is claimed to be the most powerful icebreaker in the world and was expected to open traffic on the Great Lakes three to four weeks earlier in the spring and to keep the channels clear later in the fall. Two hundred and ninety feet long, she cut a channel 70 feet wide, adequate to service the largest lakes ore carriers.

'Big Mac' as sometimes the U.S. Coast Guard [icebreaker] was called, began early March icebreaking operations in the Straits of Mackinac, heralding the spring opening of Great Lakes shipping. An HO4S-2G helicopter (From Coast Guard Air Station, Traverse City, Michigan) perched on the stern made ice surveys for the icebreaker during its 6 to 8 weeks of icebreaking operations.

Normally lake ice thaws at the end of April, but the MACKINAW has opened Great Lakes shipping lanes as early as the third week in March, thus facilitating the early shipping of millions of tons of iron ore and other materials. Usually at the first week in March the MACKINAW heads first for the strategic area of the Straits of Mackinac to begin ice operations and as conditions permit works up though the Soo Locks, to Whitefish Bay and areas of the St. Mary's River, then to the head of Lake Superior. Later the icebreaker works in the lower Lakes' areas.

The MACKINAW is literally land-locked, her size not permitting her to leave the Great Lakes. Built of steel, 'Big Mac's' length is 290 ft., beam 74 ft., draft 19 ft., displacement 5,252 tons, maximum speed 16 knots. A diesel electric power plant delivers 10,000 h.p. through twin screws in the stern and one in the bow. The bow propeller is employed to churn the water beneath the ice, changing its static buoyancy. The resulting combined forward and downward motion when the MACKINAW drives its great bow onto the ice makes the icebreaker capable of breaking through 4 feet of solid sheet 'blue' ice. The MACKINAW has also plowed through 37 ft. of 'windrow' (broken) ice. It is capable of cutting a channel 70 ft. wide to accommodate the largest of the Great Lakes ore carriers.

During navigation season, the MACKINAW is used to handle the heaviest buoys on the lakes with the aid of its two 12-ton cranes, to carry fuel and supplies to light stations, to serve as a training ship, and to assist vessels in distress when necessary.

The “Mac”, “Guardian of the Lakes” and “Great White Mother” as MACKINAW has been know with affection, provided over 60 years of outstanding service to the communities and commercial enterprises of the Great Lakes. Her age made her very expensive and difficult to maintain. And thus she was decommissioned in June 2006 where she now serves as a beautiful lakeside maritime museum in Mackinaw City, Michigan.

399' WAGB WAGB-10 Polar Star

The Polar Class icebreakers were designed to replace the Coast Guard's aging icebreaker fleet but due to budget constraints only two were authorized: WAGB-10 (Polar Star) and WAGB-11 (Polar Sea). They were both built by the Lockheed Shipbuilding Company of Seattle and both entered service in 1976. The were designed to break 6.5 feet of ice at 3 knots and could reach a maximum speed in open water of 18 knots. They were also built with newly designed controllable-pitch propellers that caused some initial problems after they first entered service. However, these "teething problems" were overcome and in conjunction with USCGC Healy, the Polar Class continue to carry out successfully the Coast Guard's icebreaking missions on the earth's polar regions.

Since the late 1970s, these 400-foot mammoths of the Coast Guard fleet, based in Seattle, Wash., have been traveling north and south for their primary mission of scientific and logistical support in both Polar Regions. Polar class icebreakers have a variety of missions while operating in polar regions. During Antarctic deployments, their primary missions include breaking a channel through the sea ice to resupply the McMurdo Research Station in the Ross Sea. Resupply ships using the channel to bring food, fuel, and other goods to make it through another winter. In addition, to these duties, Polar Star also serves as a scientific research platform with five laboratories and accommodations for up to 20 scientists. The "J"-shaped cranes and workareas near the stern and port side of ship give scientists the capability to do at-sea studies in the fields of geology, vulcanology, oceanography, sea-ice physics and other disciplines.

Commissioned in 1976 and 1978, the Polar Class icebreakers were specifically designed for open-water icebreaking. They have reinforced hulls, special icebreaking bows, and a system that allows rapid shifting of ballast to increase the effectiveness of their icebreaking. The POLAR SEA and POLAR STAR serve in Arctic/Antarctic serving science and research as well as providing supplies to remote stations.

CGC POLAR STAR (WAGB10) is a United States Coast Guard Heavy Icebreaker. Commissioned in 1976, the ship was built by Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company of Seattle, Washington along with her sister ship, POLAR SEA (WAGB11)

POLAR STAR's three shafts are turned by either a diesel-electric or gas turbine power plant. Each shaft is connected to a 16-foot(4.9-meter) diameter, four-bladed, controllable-pitch propeller. The diesel-electric plant can produce 18,000 shaft horsepower(13,425 kilowatts) and the gas turbine plant a total of 75,000shaft horsepower (55,925 kilowatts). Along with POLAR STAR's sister ship POLAR SEA, she is one of the largest ships in the US Coast Guard and the world's most powerful non-nuclear ships.

POLAR STAR has other unique engineering features designed to aid in icebreaking. An installed heeling system can rock the ship to prevent getting stuck in the ice. The system consists of three pairs of connected tanks on opposite sides of the ship. Pumps transfer a tank's contents (35,000 gallons, 133 kiloliters) to an opposing tank in 50 seconds and generate 24,000 foot-tons (64,800 kilowatt-seconds) of torque on the ship. That goes a long way in rocking POLAR STAR loose from any tight spots.

POLAR STAR carries two helicopters during major deployments. They support scientific parties, do ice reconnaissance, cargo transfer, and search and rescue as required.

POLAR STAR has a variety of missions while operating in polar regions. During Antarctic deployments, our primary missions include breaking a channel through the sea ice to resupply the McMurdo Research Station in the Ross Sea. Resupply ships use the channel to bring food, fuel, and other goods to make it through another winter. In addition, to these duties, POLAR STAR also serves as a scientific research platform with five laboratories and accommodations for up to 20 scientists. The "J"-shaped cranes and work areas near the stern and port side of ship give scientists the capability to do at-sea studies in the fields of geology, vulcanology, oceanography, sea-ice physics and other disciplines.

The Polar class icebreakers are in poor condition following more than 25 years of service. As presented in the FY2006 budget, the Administration has proposed moving the budget authority to operate and maintain these vessels to the National Science Foundation (NSF). The Coast Guard will continue to work with the National Science Foundation to ensure that the nation’s Polar Class icebreakers are available to complete their missions.

On 30 June 2006 the POLAR STAR went into a special status "Caretaker". This caretaker status required the crew to be reduced to 34 and to keep the ship ready for a possible return to the ice. Effective with the fiscal year 2009 budget, NSF will no longer provide funds to maintain the USCGC Polar Star in caretaker status because NSF does not envision current or future use of this vessel in support of its mission.' Due to the changing environmental conditions and increased activity in the polar regions, as well as the Coast Guard's multi-mission responsibilities in the polar regions that are not science related, the Senate Committee on Appropriations included statutory language making an additional $4,000,000 available to maintain the USCGC Polar Star in caretaker status.

The Coast Guard had long planned to construct two additional Polar-class icebreakers to replace the GLACIER (WAGB 4, ex-AGB 4) and two Wind-class icebreakers to provide a class of four modern icebreakers. Howevef, Glacier and the Wind-class icebreakers were de-comissioned without replacement.

420' WAGB WAGB-20 Healy

The Coast Guard has one 420’ Icebreaker, the Coast Guard Cutter HEALY (WAGB - 20). HEALY was delivered to the Coast Guard in 1999. A second unit of the class was planned but not authorized. HEALY is designed to conduct a wide range of scientific research activities, break 4 ½ feet of ice continuously at three knots and can operate in temperatures as low as -50 degrees F. HEALY is also a capable platform for supporting other potential missions in the polar regions, including logistics, search and rescue, ship escort, environmental protection, and enforcement of laws and treaties. There are no major maintenance projects planned for HEALY.

The Healy is the largest and heaviest cutter ever designed and built for the Coast Guard. She can break 4.5 feet of ice at 3 knots and 7.8 feet of ice by backing and ramming. USCGC HEALY is named in commemoration of Captain Michael A. Healy, U. S. Revenue Marine. Captain Healy was most notable as the foremost seaman and navigator of his time in the Bering Sea and Alaskan Arctic regions while Commanding Officer of the U. S. Revenue Cutter BEAR from 1886 to 1895."

USCGC Healy (WAGB 20) was constructed by Avondale Industries in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her keel was laid on September 16, 1996. A spectacular launch followed on November 15, 1997. Delivered to the U.S. Coast Guard and placed "In Commission, Special" on November 10, 1999, Healy joined the icebreakers Polar Star (WAGB 10) and Polar Sea (WAGB 11) in their homeport of Seattle, Washington. The ship departed New Orleans on January 26th, 2000, arrived in Seattle on August 9th, 2000 and was placed "In Commission, Active" on August 21st, 2000." On 06 September 2002 the Coast Guard Cutter Healy became only the second US surface ship to reach the North Pole.

HEALY is designed to conduct a wide range of research activities, providing more than 4,200 square feet of scientific laboratory space, numerous electronic sensor systems, oceanographic winches, and accommodations for up to 50 scientists. HEALY is designed to break 4 ½ feet of ice continuously at three knots and can operate in temperatures as low as -50 degrees F. The science community provided invaluable input on lab lay-outs and science capabilities during design and construction of the ship. At a time when scientific interest in the Arctic Ocean basin is intensifying, HEALY substantially enhances the United States Arctic research capability.

As a Coast Guard cutter, HEALY is also a capable platform for supporting other potential missions in the polar regions, including logistics, search and rescue, ship escort, environmental protection, and enforcement of laws and treaties.

Characteristics: Length: 420 ft Beam: 82 ft Designed Draft: 29 ft Displacement: 16,000 tons Propulsion: Disel Electric, AC/AC Cycloconvertor Shaft Horsepower: 30,000 Max HP Commissioned: June 1999 Length, Overall 420'0" (128 meters) Beam, Maximum 82'0" (25 meters) Draft, Full Load 29'3" (8.9 meters) Displacement, Full Load 16,000 LT Propulsion Diesel Electric, AC/AC Cycloconvertor Generating Plant Drive Motors 4 Sultzer 12Z AU40S 2 AC Synchronous, 11.2 MW Shaft Horsepower 30,000 Max HP Propellers 2 Fixed Pitch, 4 Bladed Auxiliary Generator EMD 16-645F7B, 2400kW Fuel Capacity 1,220,915 GAL (4,621,000 liters) Cruising Speed 12 knots @ 105 RPM Max Speed 17 knots @ 147 RPM Icebreaking Capability 4.5 ft @ 3 knots (continuous) 8 ft (2.44 m) Backing and Ramming Science Labs Main, Bio-Chemical, Electronics, Meteorological, Photography Accommodations 19 Officer, 12 CPO, 54 Enlisted, 35 Scientists, 16 Surge, 2 Visitors

WLBB-30 Mackinaw Great Lakes Icebreaing (GLIB)

USCGC Mackinaw (WLBB-30) is a 240-foot (73- meters) vessel built as a heavy icebreaker for operations on the North American Great Lakes for the United States Coast Guard. She should not be confused with a namesake ship, the USCGC Mackinaw (WAGB-83), which was decommissioned on June 10, 2006. CGC Mackinaw (WLBB-30), was delivered to the Coast Guard on November 18, 2005 and commissioned on June 10, 2006. In addition to her ice-breaking duties, the Mackinaw will also serve as an Aids to Navigation ship, able to perform the same duties as the Seagoing Buoy Tenders (WLB) of the Coast Guard fleet.

In August 1999, the Coast Guard received authorization to proceed with validation, full-scale development, and production of a vessel to replace the Mackinaw, the 56-year-old heavy icebreaker for the Great Lakes. The Congress was very supportive of retaining a heavy icebreaking capability in the Great Lakes and concurs with the Coast Guard recommendation to replace the Mackinaw with a new vessel. There was concern with the estimated costs to design and build a replacement for the Mackinaw. The National Science Foundation leases the R/V Nathaniel B. Palmer, an icebreaker with capabilities similar what the Coast Guard proposed for the Great Lakes Icebreaker (GLIB). Although the Palmer cost $70,000,000 to design and build, the Coast Guard projects to spend approximately $130,000,000 on the GLIB. By another comparison, the USCG Healy, a polar icebreaker with more robust capabilities, was designed and constructed for $25,000 a ton and the GLIB will cost $52,000 a ton.

Maintaining a reliable Great Lakes heavy icebreaking capability is essential. Great Lakes shipping operates on a 42- week shipping season to deliver 150 million tons of materials. Of those 42 weeks, 12 weeks require icebreaking services. The Great Lakes Icebreaking Capability (GLIB) Replacement project is an acquisition program whose primary purpose is to meet the heavy ice-breaking requirements of the Great Lakes as spelled out under several federal mandates. Specifically, Executive Order NO. 7521 dated 21 December 1936 states “ The Coast Guard ...... is hereby directed to assist in keeping open to navigation by means of ice-breaking operations ...... channels and harbors in accordance with the reasonable demands of commerce.” The Coast Guard as required by law will maintain a heavy ice-breaking capability on the Great Lakes to assist in keeping channels and harbors open to navigation in response to the reasonable demands of commerce to meet the winter shipping needs of industry.

In the past, icebreakers have dedicated a majority of their annual resource hours to ice breaking with the remainder of the annual resource hours being allotted to environmental response. The new icebreaker was designed as more of a multi-mission asset that will be tasked with aids to navigation, marine safety, and search and rescue and aids to navigation missions in addition to its ice breaking activities.

In addition to heavy icebreaking, the USCGC MACKINAW (WLBB-30) has state of the art systems and multimission capabilities that include; maintenance of aids to navigation (ATON), conduct law enforcement and search and rescue as well as the ability to deploy an oil skimming system to respond to oil spill situations and environmental response. Deployments will range from one day to six weeks.

One of the Mackinaw’s unique features in the US Coast Guard fleet is the use of azipods for her main propulsion. These, coupled with a 550 hp (410 kW) bow thruster, makes the ship exceptionally maneuverable. Azipods also negate the need for a traditional rudder, as the azipods can turn 360 degrees on their axis direct thrust in any direction. The Mackinaw also lacks a traditional ships steering wheel. Much of the ship’s technology, including the azipod thrusters is from Finnish Maritime Cluster.

Length, Overall 240’0” Beam 58’6” Draft 16’ Full Load Displacement (LT) 3,500 Maximum Speed 15kts Crew Complement 9 Officers 5 CPOs 41 Crew Mixed Gender Accommodations 2 Person Staterooms Main Propulsion Integrated Main Propulsion & Electrical Plant Auxiliary/Emergency Generator 715kw Propellers ABB Azipod® - Fixed Pitch, 10’ diameter Features • Refrozen Brash Ice Capability (ramming): Up to 10’ • Ridge Ice Capability (penetrate in < 4 rams): 10’ within 30 minutes • Law Enforcement: (6) 50-Caliber Machine Guns Various Small Arms • Aids-to-Navigation: Same as Seagoing Buoy Tender (WLB) • Oil Spill Control: Coast Guard’s Vessel of Opportunity Skimming System (VOSS) • Maximum Range : 4,000 NM @ 12 kts, 9,000 NM @ 9kts Predicted • Sewage Treatment, Trash & Hazmat Storage: Hold for 10 days (based on 50 man crew) All Grey Water & All Black Water Trash compactor retains all trashes; separate glass, plastics & paper Retains all HAZMATs "http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=104354&org=ANT&from=news">Report of the OPP OAC Subcommittee on U.S. Antarctic Program Resupply "">Polar Icebreakers in a Changing World: An Assessment of U.S. Needs, Committee on the Assessment of U.S. Coast Guard Polar Icebreaker Roles and Future Needs, National Research Council (2007). “We are losing ground in the global competition,” Thad W. Allen, commandant of the Coast Guard, told a House panel in July. “Like Russia, Germany, China, Sweden and Canada are all investing and maintaining and expanding their national icebreaking capacity.” The National Science Foundation estimates that it would take seven or eight years for a new ice-breaking ship to become operational after funds are appropriated. NSF is interested in contracting for resupply services to McMurdo Station, Antarctica. These services would involve annually transporting cargo as specified below to the pier at McMurdo Station, located at 77 deg 51' S, 166 deg 40' E. NSF intends for this to be a long-term arrangement of at least ten years. It is expected that a contract would include annual mobilization and de-mobilization periods (length of time to be determined based on location of home port) and an operating period in the Southern Ocean south of 60 deg S of approximately 6 to 8 weeks, but the operating period may differ with the type of resupply package that is proposed. After that period the vessels would be off-contract and free to engage in other work.

http://www.arctic.gov/index.htm "I suspect that I will need 3-4 new icebreakers, 7-9 ice hardened patrol ships, forward operating bases, marine pollution response capability, Arctic domain awareness, and Arctic communications capability ... for a start. We could ignore the Arctic. The Russians aren't. The Canadians aren't. Even non-polar nations like the Chinese aren't. It will take a decade to build the infrastructure to meet our responsibilities in the Arctic. The others will be ready. Will we? The worst case scenario is a failure to peacefully settle the Arctic boundaries that leads to open conflict between the Arctic nations. That threat is not immediate, but could build quickly due to the boundary disputes."

RADM Arthur E. (Gene) Brooks Commander, Seventeenth Coast Guard District [D17 Alaska] 4/15/2008 The Canadians reported that 107 ships successfully transited the Northwest Passage in 2007 into the Beaufort Sea and about 300 ships worked the Russian Arctic, primarily for resupply along the desolate north coast of Russia.

Canadian Coast Guard Icebreakers

Ice is a condition of climate that most Canadians live with during a significant part of the year. Its effect on weather and transportation, although most evident in the Arctic, is felt throughout the country. The greatest impact of ice is in large lakes, rivers and estuaries - where annual flooding can cause loss of life and property - and in coastal waters, where delay or redirection of ships could add to transportation costs and possibly jeopardize Canadian competitiveness.

In 1910 Canadian icebreakers were sent for the first time into northern waters to assist in exploring and charting new routes where arctic ice conditions prevailed, and from then on they worked for several seasons more or less successfully - certainly often precariously. The first to go north in 1910 was the Stanley, built in 1888 at Govan, Scotland; the icebreaker Minto, eleven years younger and the product of a Dundee shipyard. Both ships had been designed to carry passengers and freight on the Prince Edward Island ferry run and had only limited icebreaking capability. They were at times defeated by even the relatively light ice encountered in Northumberland Strait; in Hudson Strait the massive fields of arctic ice, often deck high and dotted with miniature icebergs, were many times more formidable. The outbreak of the First World War brought these activities to a halt.

In 1904 a more powerful icebreaker was built at Glasgow, named Montcalm, which displaced 3270 tons and had an engine of 3225 horsepower. She was the workhorse of the fleet for the next 38 years, engaged in icebreaking and other coastal duties in the St. Lawrence River and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. In the end she too was transferred to Russia in 1942. The first Canadian-built icebreaker, J . D. Hazen, was launched in May 1916 from Vickers’ Montreal yards and was an immense improvement ins ize, power, and capability, and was almost immediately sold to the hard-pressed Russians. Later the Canadian government repossessed the ship -at a price- and from then on until 1937 the former J.D.Hazen assisted in keeping the St. Lawrence channel open above Quebec.

The Earl Grey was to outlast all others. Built at Barrow-in-Furness in 1909 for the St. Lawrence winter service, her tonnage (4,600) and power (7,000 HP) were considerably less than those of the Russian Yermak, built the same year, but her speed of 17 knots was 3 knots higher. Under successive Soviet regimes her name was changed more than once, first to Kanada, then to III International, and finally to Fedor Litke.

The Canadian Coast Guard operates a fleet of five icebreakers that guide foreign vessels through Canada’s Arctic waters and assist in harbor breakouts, routing, and northern resupply. These icebreakers are often the only federal resource positioned in a particular area of the Arctic, and they must also serve in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Atlantic. Some commentators have suggested that Canada requires more “heavy” or “all-season” icebreaker capabilities in order to properly monitor and patrol the area. The Canadian Navy does not currently have the capacity to operate within the Arctic ice.

The Coast Guard's icebreaking activity takes place in three areas -- the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Eastern Arctic and the Western Arctic. In the Gulf of St. Lawrence, it provides escorts and keeps major shipping lanes open for navigation from the Maritimes to Montreal during the winter months. It also opens harbors to expedite the movement of cargo and fishing vessels. Ice in the Gulf of St. Lawrence typically starts forming in early December and spreads eastward toward the Magdalen Islands. The peak of the icebreaking season in the Laurentian Region is in January and February, with demand typically diminishing in March. The peak in the Maritimes Region is normally in late February and March. These different peaks provide opportunities for staggered deployment.

Eastern Arctic operations involve co-ordination and icebreaker support for the sealift which provides food, materials, fuel and equipment to northern settlements and defence sites. Typically, the Eastern Arctic operations deploy six icebreakers. Unlike the Gulf, where it is difficult to anticipate vessel traffic in advance, much of the demand for Arctic escorts is identified by users each spring in an annual planning meeting.

The Coast Guard has divided the area from Montreal to Newfoundland into three ice zones, each serviced by a separate region. The Laurentian, Maritimes and Newfoundland regions each have their own icebreaking fleets which they deploy according to the demands of vessels operating in regional waters. Typically, within a region, an icebreaker may be assigned to a specific geographic sector. However, the Coast Guard was unable to provide us with a national strategy for the three contiguous regions serving the Gulf, or a plan which treated the icebreaking fleet as one Eastern fleet whose deployment could take advantage of the differing regional peak periods.

The Coast Guard states that to provide icebreaking assistance, eight heavy icebreaking vessels are employed and complemented by those aids-to-navigation vessels that have icebreaking capability. The Coast Guard spent about $686 million on the acquisition and modernization of vessels in the 1000-1300 classes from 1983 to 1989. As of 1989 it was projecting an expenditure of $95 million on modernizing the Class 1300 Louis S. St. Laurent and $10.1 million on the Class 1100 Bernier, neither of which had played a major role in the icebreaking programs of their regions in the previous five years.

Canadian Coast Guard [CCG]

To understand the Canadian Coast Guard, it is important to dispel some commonly held myths, based on the United States Coast Guard [USCG], from which it is very different. The first myth is that the Coast Guard is a paramilitary body, like the USCG, that polices the coast. In fact, Coast Guard ships are not armed and their crews are not trained in the use of firearms. The second myth is that the Coast Guard is a service much like the army or navy. In fact, the Coast Guard is a branch of the Department of Transport. The third myth about the Coast Guard is that it is heavily involved in the interdiction of illegal drugs, smugglers, illegal immigrants and other such activities. In fact, the Coast Guard has no legal mandate for such activities. The last myth about the Coast Guard is that there is one national fleet. In fact, fleet operations are highly decentralized and there are five regional fleets, each deployed, maintained and operated on a regional basis.

Two of the Coast Guard's primary functions are the aids to navigation and icebreaking programs. These programs directly and indirectly affect the lives of millions of Canadians, including remote communities in the North that rely on the annual Arctic Sealift for supplies and fuel. They also include commercial shipping companies which require assistance to navigate ice-filled waters and depend on aids to navigation to prevent marine casualties, commercial fishermen and pleasure boaters dependent on fixed and floating aids to marine navigation. A fleet of dozens of ships, ranging from small buoy tenders to large Arctic class icebreakers, is used to support the aids to navigation and icebreaking programs.

The fleet is managed on a regional basis by the Fleet Systems organization, which is the largest component of the Coast Guard. At Headquarters, the Fleet Systems organization is responsible for setting national standards and providing functional direction on manning, deployment, maintenance and other logistics. The regional and district Fleet Systems organizations make the day-to-day deployment decisions.

Coast Guard vessels undertake a number of different types of missions: servicing, maintaining and constructing floating and fixed radio aids; sounding; icebreaking and escorting; ice management and flood control; Arctic resupply; Search and Rescue; pollution control and marine emergencies. The Coast Guard also supports departments and agencies such as the Canadian Hydrographic Service, the Department of the Environment, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Teleglobe Canada, the St. Lawrence Seaway Authority and law enforcement agencies.

Canada’s assertion that the Northwest Passage represents internal (territorial) waters has been challenged by other countries, including the United States, which argue that these waters constitute an international strait (international waters). The requirements of an international strait are both geographic and functional. An international strait must connect two bodies of the high seas, in this case the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. However, an international strait must also satisfy the criterion of being a useful (not just potentially useful) route for navigation, and must have experienced a sufficient number of transits.

"http://wps.cfc.forces.gc.ca/papers/csc/csc33/exnh/moore.doc">DEFENDING CANADIAN ARCTIC SOVEREIGNTY: AN EXAMINATION OF PRIME MINISTER HARPER’S ARCTIC INITIATIVES LCol S.W. Moore http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=e49e29ee-3434-44c0-ba6b-00ef25297090&k=37964

Polar Class 8

Polar 8, Canada's projected Arctic Class 8 icebreaker, would have been the largest non-nuclear icebreaker in the world. The Polar 8 Project was a Canadian shipbuilding project based upon a class of 167-metre, 101,000-horsepower, diesel-electric powered high endurance icebreakers (polar class PC 1) intended for the Canadian Coast Guard. The project was developed as a means to assert Canada's sovereignty in the Arctic Ocean. It commenced in 1985 but was cancelled in 1990 while still in the final design stage.

Since the early 1970s, following the voyages of the tanker Manhattan through the Northwest Passage, the Canadian Coast Guard designed several large polar icebreakers capable of operating year-round in most areas of the Canadian north. The initial Polar 7 icebreaker design (capable of continuously breaking 7 feet of level ice) evolved into a nuclear-powered Polar 10 design, which was finally downgraded to the present non-nuclear Polar 8 design. If this ship was built it will be the world's largest and most powerful icebreaker (100,000 horsepower versus 75,000 for the Soviet Arktika class). Such a ship with a crew of 116, would allow Canada to exercise year-round sovereignty and jurisdiction in most areas of the Canadian archipelago. It would also support commercial shipping in the Canadian Arctic during the winter season between November and June.

By 1983, a "funded bid" phase for the Polar 8 had been approved. Initially authorized for study in the days of Liberal prime minister Pierre Trudeau, the Polar 8 became a top priority of Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservative government in 1985, following widespread criticism of its handling of the August 1985 Polar Sea incident. After the American icebreaker Polar Sea transited the Northwest Passage without permission from Ottawa, in 1985 Secretary of State for External Affairs Joe Clark, provided a comprehensive declaration of Canadian Arctic sovereignty to the House of Commons: "Canada’s sovereignty in the Arctic is indivisible. It embraces land, sea and ice. It extends without interruption to the seaward-facing coasts of the Arctic Islands. These islands are joined, and not divided, by the waters between them. They are bridged for most of the year by ice. From time immemorial Canada’s Inuit people have used and occupied the ice as they have used and occupied the land. The policy of the Government is to maintain the natural unity of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and to preserve Canada’s sovereignty over land, sea and ice undiminished and undivided."

On 10 September 1985 Secretary of State for External Affairs Joe Clark announced in the House of Commons the government's commitment to build a major icebreaker for the Canadian Coast Guard. The Polar 8 was touted as symbolizing the government's intent "to maintain the natural unity of the Canadian Arctic archipelago and to preserve Canada's sovereignty over land, sea and ice - undiminished and undivided." The Polar 8 Project was proposed by the new Progressive Conservative administration of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. It was Canada's direct response to the unauthorized transit through the Northwest Passage in summer 1985 by the USCGC Polar Sea, a United States Coast Guard icebreaker.

The Polar 8 Project was originally designed to be nuclear-powered, however this was subsequently down-graded to a conventional diesel-electric power plant. The ship would be equipped with two transport helicopters, 2 LST (auxiliary landing vessels), 4 life rafts, and possibly 2 hovercraft.

The Polar 8 was a vessel that we had hoped to have on board a federal court, the territorial court, soon to be a provincial court — that is how much time has gone by — an RCMP detachment, a detachment of Rangers, a good library, good diagnostic services for the people living in the area and its presence in the Arctic for three, four, five years at a time, bringing it south when it had to be hauled [the bottom cleaned up]. One of the earlier observations when the Polar 8 was being discussed was that it is probably an ideal forum for a coordination center that would deal with the Arctic operations, as well as delivering both air and land search and rescue throughout that archipelago.

By late 1987 the Canadian government had completed negotiations for the construction of the world's largest icebreaker. The C$320-million Polar 8 was expected to be ready for service in 1992, and although conventionally-powered, was to be able to winter in the region. The unarmed ship was expected to be able to break eight solid feet (2.5 meters) of ice without reversing engines, at a constant speed of three knots. By 1987 federal transport minister John Crosbie and international trade minister Pat Carney were still declaring the government's resolve to build the ship as they announced the start of negotiations for a construction contract with Vancouver-based Versatile Pacific Shipyards, promising hundreds of jobs to the province and a shining new symbol of Canadian know-how and globe-girdling ambition.

Versatile Pacific Shipyards was low bidder at 417 million dollars. Swan Wooster and the Canadian Icebreaker Design Group were chosen as Versatile's partners and contractors. The Canadian Icebreaker Design Group managed the process. The Burrard Dry Dock Company was important for its role in the economic development of North Vancouver and the West Coast. It was established as the Wallace Shipyards in 1906, and during the First World War the shipyard expanded and built vessels for both the Imperial Munitions Board and the Canadian Government. The Second World War brought another shipbuilding boom and the yard became the largest employer of shipyard labor in British Columbia. As the 1980s wore on, the long shipbuilding boom came to an end and the yards faced a bleak future. By the 1980s the west end of the yard, where the company had been born, was adjacent to a lucrative section of waterfront where upscale development was by then taking place.

The effort to sell the firm was aided by a promised federal carrot: the largest shipbuilding contract ever for the Polar-8 icebreaker. Consequently, a buyer was found in 1989. The new owners of the yard turned out to be Toronto-based venture capitalists attracted more by the value of the North Vancouver lands than any other single factor.

By March 1989, after a rocky political ride, two proposals were prepared, one with a diesel electric propulsion system, and one with a geared diesel drive and controllable pitch propellers. The latter was cheaper by some 30 million dollars, cheaper to operate, and provided more capacity in the same space, but there were worries it would not provide the power for year round Arctic operation. The diesel electric was more technically elegant and flexible in operation, but carried with it a far greater risk to build and operate, and took up more space.

As the project progressed and the costs rose, the government's commitment to the project weakened. On 20 February 1990 the Minister of Finance Michael Wilson announced its cancellation. The Canadian government's cancellation of the Polar 8 icebreaker project was a severe blow to British Columbia's shipbuilding industry. "The cancellation of Polar 8 means B.C. probably suffers a $450 million economic development program loss," said Finance Minister Mel Couvelier. The project to build the world's biggest icebreaker was canceled despite three years of government promises that it would be built in British Columbia. Cancellation meant the loss of 1,000 promised shipyard jobs in North Vancouver and Victoria over a four-year construction period - and millions of dollars worth of contracts to marine-related industries. Versatile Pacific Shipyards Inc. spokesmen said Canadian content in the half-billion dollar ship would have been 75 percent, mostly from British Columbia contractors. It has already cost $7.5 million to design.

Work had begun on the "Polar 8" ice breaker, but when the contract was cancelled in February 1990 it delivered the final blow to the company. Once a major shipyard, the site is now being converted to other uses. This former shipyard has been honoured as the location where west coast shipbuilding will be commemorated as an event of National Historic Significance, as bestowed by the Government of Canada in 2004. During its century of existence, over four hundred new ships were built and many thousands more repaired or converted.

In 1988, Professor Pharand wrote, “I do believe that a Class 8 icebreaker, which would permit us to exercise surveillance over those waters year-round, except for the McClure Strait where you would need a class 10, is the minimum we need” to exercise effective control [since then, the effects of climate change and increased Arctic marine and air traffic, suggests that a single polar Class 8 icebreaker is probably insufficient, however, this would depend on the actual state of the ice pack].

The massive 1989 federal budget cuts saw funding for the Polar 8 Project reduced and eventually it was cancelled in 1990, only two months before construction was scheduled to begin. The ship was to have been built at Versatile Pacific Shipyards in British Columbia at a cost of $700 million CAD. Versatile's delays in construction start up were cited as a contributing factor, while political shifts in Eastern Europe to detente and Canada to continentalism diminished the needs for the defense and sovereignty protection an icebreaker would provide. A perceived problem of overcapacity in Canadian shipyards also diminished the government's interest in providing support. The loss of the contract was the last rivet in the coffin for Versatile Pacific Shipyard, which closed in 1992.

In scrapping the icebreaker, the government seemed to be resigning itself to the loss of Canadian sovereignty over the Arctic, as exemplified by External Affairs Minister Joe Clark's statement, when the government first announced plans for the ship, that "sovereignty claims you can't defend gradually disappear."

The CCG had delayed critical modernization upgrades that had been planned for its Gulf-class icebreaker, the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent during the late 1980s while the Polar 8 Project was underway. In February 1990, Mulroney's finance minister, Michael Wilson, announced the death of Canada's polar ship of state, declaring it strategically obsolete and economically unjustified.

Following the Polar 8 Project cancellation, CCG funded the modernization overhaul and hull extension of the Louis S. St-Laurent in order to maintain a strategic presence in the Arctic Ocean. CCG also purchased a former commercial icebreaker, the CCGS Terry Fox, during the late 1980s as a stop-gap measure. Since the demise of the Polar 8 project, which was killed in 1990, there appear to be no plans in Canada to upgrade our ice-breaker fleet, or even to replace the aging fleet.

http://books.google.com/books?id=kDA3XNEiCH4C&pg=PA226

Arctic Patrol Ship Project

The federal government announced in 2007 that it would procure a fleet of 8 light icebreaker patrol ships for the Canadian Forces. The Arctic Patrol Ship Project is based on a Royal Norwegian Navy patrol boat design used in the Barents Sea with a polar class of PC 5; thus they will be significantly smaller and less capable than what was envisioned in the Polar 8 Project, which would have extended the capabilities of the Canadian Coast Guard's operations in the Arctic Ocean. Some media and political sources termed these new patrol vessels, with limited ice capability, as mere "slush breakers".

Polar Class Icebreaker Project

The February 2008 federal budget announced a $720 million project to build a replacement for the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent in FY 2017. It won't hit the ice and water until 2017, but by August 2008 Canada's new $720-million icebreaker had a name. Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the icebreaker that will become Canada's flagship in the Arctic will be named after the late Progressive Conservative prime minister John Diefenbaker. After its completion almost a decade hence, the Diefenbaker will replace the Louis St. Laurent, which was named after Diefenbaker's Liberal predecessor.

Many political and media sources have called this new vessel a "Polar Class Icebreaker", though all vessels classed by a classification society as being capable of operating in sea ice have a polar class which can range from PC 1 through PC 7. Since the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent is classed PC 1, it is quite likely that the CCGS John G. Diefenbaker will be similarly classed. The original $700 million per vessel pricetag of an icebreaker from the Polar 8 Project in 1985, when adjusted for inflation to 2008, would be approximately $1.3 billion, therefore it is quite likely that the CCGS John G. Diefenbaker will be a much smaller vessel than the Polar 8 Project envisioned, albeit larger than the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent.

http://www.amundsen.quebec-ocean.ulaval.ca/ http://www.esva.net/~rwest/boats.html http://www.eri-aurora-borealis.eu/

AURORA BOREALIS

In March 2007 German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) approved technical development work for research icebreaker and drilling vessel AURORA BOREALIS. The Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) is receiving more than 5 million Euro from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The funds will be dedicated to continue technical development of the new European research icebreaker AURORA BOREALIS, together with the Department of Naval Architecture at the University of Applied Sciences in Bremen. Simultaneously, the search for international partners interested in contributing to construction and maintenance costs of the vessel has begun.

As early as May 22, 2006, the Science Council, with the stipulation of previous completion of some technical development work, recommended the design of the ice-breaking research drilling vessel AURORA BOREALIS under German leadership. With its current approval, the BMBF is following the Science Council’s recommendation by providing the funds for associated scientific engineering tasks.

Since November 2006, construction of the new ship has also been central to the European agenda, as AURORA BOREALIS represents one of 35 large-scale research projects included in the so-called ESFRI list (ESFRI = European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures) of the European Commission. ESFRI has identified large-scale infrastructure projects that will be of highest priority for the European research environment over the next decades. Through its 7th Framework Programme for research, the European Commission will provide approximately 200 million Euro for the preparation and development of management structures associated with those 35 large-scale projects. Hence, the AWI, together with the European Polar Board and the European Science Foundation, will also apply for funding under this programme. Fortunately, more than 11 European countries, including Russia, have already expressed their interest in contributing to the currently approved preparation phase.

AURORA BOREALIS represents a new type of ship which is the first to be constructed anywhere in the world. Combining ice-breaking, drilling and multi-purpose features, the research vessel will be able to operate in polar regions and open oceans, throughout all seasons.

Both international and interdisciplinary expeditions aboard AURORA BOREALIS travelling to the central Arctic Ocean during all seasons will be providing new insights into one of the last unexplored regions of the world, through the novel option of year-round operation of the vessel. AURORA BOREALIS will be able to operate without additional accompanying icebreakers. In addition to a multitude of scientific investigations (i.e. meteorological, biological, oceanographic, glaciological and geophysical research) that can be carried out aboard the ship, the technical facilities of the vessels will include options for remote sensing, marine technology (so-called Subsea Floor Engineering) and Arctic deep sea drilling. One of the most extraordinary features of the vessel will be her capacity for deep sea drilling under a complete cover of sea ice. With her wide range of capabilities, AURORA BOREALIS will be equipped to serve all disciplines of marine technology and marine polar research.

AURORA BOREALIS will be part of the polar class of heavy icebreakers, comparable to the large Russian icebreakers, exceeding 50 megawatts of power. This enormous driving force will be necessary to guarantee all-season assignments in nearly all regions of the Arctic. The drilling equipment of AURORA BOREALIS will allow for operating depths of 4,000 meters (plus 1,000 meters drill depth in the sediment), hence allowing access to ninety percent of all Arctic Ocean deep sea regions. Additional technical innovations of the vessel include modularised mobile laboratory systems which will facilitate project specific selection of research laboratories. Two specialised technical devices in the hull of AURORA BOREALIS, so-called ‘Moon Pools’, will assure that remotely operated deep sea vehicles (ROVs), autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), ocean floor observatories, etc can continue to operate during drilling also. In the future, scientific updates and technology can be integrated into the laboratory system without much effort.

The AURORA BOREALIS project was instigated by the Alfred Wegener Institute and continues to be pursued through the European Polar Board (EPB) of the European Science Foundation (ESF). In addition, it will be linked to existing research programmes, especially to the ‘Integrated Ocean Drilling Programme’ (IODP). Whereas the Department of Naval Architecture, Ocean Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University of Applied Sciences in Bremen oversees technical management of the project, overall project coordination and leadership rests with the Director of the Alfred Wegener Institute, Prof Dr Jörn Thiede.

The Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) conducts research in the Arctic, Antarctic and in oceans of temperate and high latitudes. The AWI coordinates polar research in Germany, and provides important infrastructure, such as the research icebreaker Polarstern and research stations in the Arctic and Antarctic for international scientific enterprises. The Alfred Wegener Institute is one of 15 research centres of the 'Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft' (Helmholtz Association), the largest scientific organisation in Germany.

Diesel-electric icebreaker with 81 MW propulsion power • Highest classification for icebreakers • Twin hull • Two moon pools 7 x 7 m each • Dynamic Positioning System • Deep-sea drilling under a closed sea-ice cover • Drilling rig: max. 5,000 m water depth and 1,000 m core • Riserless drilling technology • Modularized mobile laboratory systems - mission specific laboratories Length over all: 199.85 m Moulded beam width: 49 m Draught: 13 m Max. speed in open water: 15.5 kn Cruising speed in open water: 12 kn Personnel (crew, scientists and helicoptercrew): 120 Expedition duration: max. 90 days

Aurora Australis

Aurora Australis is the main Australian Government's Antarctic supply/research ship. It has good icebreaking capabilities, extensive research labs, a helicopter deck and confortable crew and expedition facilities. Built by P&O Polar, it was launched in 1989 and is operated by P&O Polar Australia Pty Ltd. The Aurora Australis is a multi-purpose research and re-supply ship, classed as an Ice Class 1A Super Icebreaker under Lloyd's Register of Shipping. It has a hangar and helideck to carry three Squirrels or two Sikorsky S-76 helicopters.

It was named after the southern hemisphere atmospheric phenomenon - Aurora Australis. Aurora australis is also known as the southern lights from Antarctica. It’s an atmospheric phenomenon displaying a diffuse glow in the sky in the southern hemisphere. It’s caused by charged particles from the sun interacting with the magnetic field of the earth.

Designed as a multi-purpose research and resupply ship, the Aurora was built by P&O Polar and launched in September 1989. Ninety-four meters long and 3911 tonnes in weight, the ship accommodates 116 passengers. It is capable of breaking ice up to 1.5 metres thick. The Aurora Australis is well equipped with a trawl deck, purpose designed for marine science and oceanographic work. The ship is also fitted with a helipad and hangar facilities for three helicopters.

The Aurora regularly sails across the Southern Ocean where storms can generate 10 metre high seas and winds of 120 -150 km/hr. The ship has been known to roll up to 45 degrees in big swells. In these situations the angle of the deck is far steeper than any streets in Australia. A wide range of scientific experiments are conducted from onboard laboratories. These include biological, oceanography and meteorological experiments and observations.

On a six week voyage, the ship's kitchen can go through 4500 eggs, 1000 kg of potatoes and 280 litres of ice cream. The ship can produce up to 45,000 liters of fresh water per day for use on board for both drinking and other uses. With satellite communications, people on the ship can phone anywhere in the world at any time. Expeditioners are also able to stay in contact with friends and family via email.

The Aurora Australis is painted a very bright orange, thus allowing it to be easily seen in ice-strewn waters.The living conditions on board are excellent. Expeditioners are accommodated in small cabins that sleep three or four people on bunk beds. The beds fold away into couches to save space, and each cabin has its own bathroom and toilet. The ship also has two gyms, a bar and a couple of video areas. Everybody eats together in a large communal mess.

Principal Data

Specification	Value
Length overall	94.91m
Length D.W.L.	88.40m
Breadth maximum waterline	20.30m
Depth, MLD to 2nd deck	10.43m
Draft, D.W.L.	7.65m
Draft, L.W.L.	7.862m
Dead weight	3911t
Engine Output	(1 x 5500 kW) (1 x 4500 kW) 10000kW
Speed:	Maximum 16.8kts Cruising 13.0kts
Ice Breaking	1.23 metres of first year 500 kPa level ice at 2.5 kts.

Korea Polar Research Institute(KOPRI) http://www.polar.re.kr/

Araon - Korea Icebreaker

Korea has a particular interest in understanding the Arctic environment with its potential for change because highly industrialized countries reach into high northern latitudes and Asia is under the steady influence of and in exchange with the Arctic environment. Korea would like to be involved in the big pictures and to contribute during post-IPY period.

The Korea’s icebreaker(Araon), which is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2009, is currently under construction. She is 6,950-ton icebreaker and designed for operation in one-meter-thick-multiple-year ice condition (KR PL-10) with 3 knot speed per hour and will be equipped with twin Azimuth propulsion units driven by diesel-electric propulsion plant. She will accommodate up to 85 persons, including 25 crew members. New ice breaking research vessel; >100 M OL, 70 day endurance, Multi-disciplinary research capabilities; oceanographic, geophysical, and labs.

Following a circumspective feasibility test in 2003, the basic design and general arrangement of a vessel had been produced in 2004 and 2005, respectively. At the beginning 2007, Hanjin Heavy Industry, Inc. won the contract for constructing an icebreaker ship and a steel-cutting ceremony was held in Jan. 2008.

After keel-laying in May of 2008 and launching and delivery in 2009, she is planned to be commissioned for scientific research and logistic purposes in both Antarctic and Arctic regions. Korea expects that the icebreaker ship would enhance the capability of conducting scientific research in polar regions with upgraded efficiency and quality. Korea is operating one “over-wintering” station, the King Sejong on King George Island in the Antarctic, and also has research facilities, the Dasan, in NyAlesund, Svalbard Islands in the Arctic. In November 2008 the Korean Polar Research Institute (KOPRI) release its plan for its new ice breaker the Araon.

http://www.merwede.com/cms1/index.php?id=219 http://www.forces.gc.ca/admmat/jss-nsi/home_accueil.asp Displacement: 26,600 tons full load Dimensions: 195 x 28 x 8.5 meters (639.8 x 91.9 x 27.9 feet) Propulsion: 2 diesels, 1 shaft, 20 knots Crew: 111 + 60 transient Cargo: 6,500 tons fuel, 535 tons aviation fuel, 300 tons ammunition, 200 TEU containers, 2,500 square meters vehicle space Aviation: 2 Sea King Armament: 2 Phalanx CIWS Ships: 4 ships, names unknown.

Joint Support Ship (JSS)

In April 2004 the Government of Canada decided to acquire three new support ships for the Canadian Forces, at an estimated cost of $2.1 billion. On August 22, 2008 the Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC), the Honorable Christian Paradis, announced the termination of a procurement process involving the shipbuilding industry. After receiving and evaluating the mandatory requirements for the Joint Support Ship Project from the bidders, the Crown has determined that the proposals were not compliant with the basic terms of the Request for Proposals (RFP). Among other compliance failures, both bids were significantly over the established budget provisions. This project was initiated to replace the Protecteur Class Auxiliary Oiler Replenishment vessels with three multi-role ships to be delivered to the Canadian Forces between 2012 and 2016.

The new support ships will replace the navy's two Auxiliary Oiler Replenishment vessels – or AORs. These vessels are now 35 years old and have become difficult and costly to maintain. And frankly, they were designed to meet the needs of a Cold War navy. There's no question they've performed extremely well, but it's time they were replaced.

Joint Support Ship (JSS) Capabilities

The primary objective of the Joint Support Ship (JSS) project is to ensure that the Navy maintains its current level of logistics support to deployed task groups while ensuring that the CF has the strategic sealift capability it needs to deploy and sustain operations, and enhancing its capability for joint command and control of forces ashore.

The JSS will operate year round in waters of Canadian interest around the world. The ships must therefore be designed and built to operate across a broad spectrum of environmental conditions. From heavy seas in open ocean, to confined littoral waters, to industrialized harbours; from freezing artic conditions, to equatorial heat; the ships will face a broad spectrum of conditions.

The core capability requirement for the JSS is Naval Task Group missions (fuel, food, stores, medical and aviation services) and Joint Force missions. The Joint Force missions include support to forces ashore such as Joint Task Force headquarters, medical facilities, accommodations, and provisions.

The new support ships will be capable of refuelling and re-supplying other ships at sea, and of providing support for ship-borne helicopters – just as the existing vessels do now. But they will be capable of doing much more. Their ability to transport a significant amount of equipment, and transfer it to shore, will give the Canadian Forces a critical strategic sealift capability. In fact, taken together, the three new support ships will be able to deploy the ‘lion's share' of the equipment of an army battle group to any port in the world. Finally, the new vessels will be capable of supporting forces deployed ashore with facilities for a joint force headquarters, a small hospital, and rest and recuperation facilities. All of this will be a significant improvement of the navy's current operational effectiveness.

These three capabilities – at-sea replenishment, strategic sealift and support of land-based forces – will make these new ships a transformational platform, one that will be highly effective across a wide range of operations at home and abroad. Inherent in the ship design will be an ability to be reconfigured rapidly. For example, the hangar, normally used for doing maintenance on aircraft, could be transformed to care for survivors of a disaster at sea or on shore.

The JSS updates and enhances the capabilities resident in the PROTECTEUR class replenishment ships. The enhancements include:

• a. A reduction in crew size by 30% to 50%;
• b. A double-hull around all fuel cargo tanks to comply with pending International Maritime Organization regulations;
• c. An increase from three to four embarked maritime helicopters;
• d. An increase from one flight deck operating spot from which to launch or land a helicopter to two spots; and
• e. A speed increase from the current maximum continuous speed of 18 knots in a PROTECTEUR Class ship to a maximum continuous speed of 21 knots in a Joint Support Ship.

The JSS shall be capable of undertaking these combinations of operations fully and concurrently Naval Task Group Missions – Replenishment, Aviation and Medical, or Joint Force Missions – Sealift, Joint Force Headquarters, and Medical. The ship shall be designed to focus on either a Naval Task Group or a Joint Force mission. It is not intended to perform both tasks concurrently. That said, there is clearly an inherent capability to perform different subsets of the two mission types described. For example, a ship conducting a full sealift mission will still replenish liquids with other ships, but cannot replenish solids due to the cargo embarked.

The ship shall be capable of deploying for up to 180 consecutive days in support of either a Task Group Mission or a Joint Force Mission. It shall support the Task Group for up to 30 consecutive days of combat operations. It shall be capable of supporting forces ashore for up to 30 consecutive days.

The JSS shall transfer ship fuel (F76), aircraft fuel (F44), petroleum, oil, lubricants, provisions, spare parts, ammunition and water to other ships, day and night, by means of tension wire abeam Replenishment at Sea (RAS) systems. Two tension span systems will be fitted on each side of the ship for a total of four systems. The JSS shall be capable of replenishing two ships simultaneously, and shall be capable of receiving solids and liquids from other supply ships using a tensioned span system. The JSS shall also be able to transfer fuel to ships and submarines that do not have receiving gear for tension wire systems. Ship’s boats and landing craft shall be replenished when the ship is alongside. The JSS shall be capable of vertical replenishment (VERTREP), which can be conducted concurrently with RAS operations.

The ship shall conduct liquid replenishment and operate its full complement of helicopters while carrying full internal sealift and with containers stored on the upper decks.

The JSS shall carry the Task Group’s re-provisioning stores in ISO (TEU) containers. Munitions shall be carried in deep magazines. Solid transfers shall be made by using the RAS stations and by helicopter (VERTREP). The JSS will transfer heavier loads than is the current practice in line with the plans of other NATO navies. Warehousing and mechanical handling facilities will allow rapid transfer rates.

The ship shall carry four Cyclone helicopters in its hangar and shall conduct day and night helicopter operations under both visual meteorological and instrument meteorological conditions. It shall be capable of launching and recovering Cyclone helicopters while underway in top of Sea State 6. First line maintenance will be provided to the four Cyclone helicopters embarked and second line maintenance shall be provided for up to seven Cyclone helicopters embarked in the ships of the Naval Task Group. The ship shall be able to recover a ditched Cyclone Helicopter in Sea State 1 to the flight deck. Cyclone helicopters shall be launched and recovered during replenishment at sea operations.

The notional dimensions of the new support ships will be in the order of 200 meters in length, approximately 30 meters in breadth and a displacement of approximately 28,000 metric tonnes. These will be the largest ships ever designed and built, from the ground up, for the Canadian navy. The crew requirements for the new support ships will also be significantly reduced from those of our current AORs – which have a crew complement of 247. The new ships will be configured with both active and passive self-defence systems, and will have an ability to navigate in first-year ice up to 0.7 meters thick.

Joint Support Ship (JSS) Program

The competition for the design and development of these sophisticated new support ships will have several phases. First will come the Pre-Qualification phase. During this period, Defence will solicit interest from industry and evaluate that interest based on a number of criteria, including: financial commitment; experience and expertise; concept design; and, most significantly for Canadian industry, a strategy to build the ships in Canada The Government is absolutely committed to building these state-of-the-art support ships, and, in doing so, in Canada in accordance with the current shipbuilding policy – which requires that a competitive environment exist.

The second phase – Project Definition – will see two qualified consortia selected from among the qualifying proposals. These consortia will be awarded a contract to produce and deliver to the Government a proposal consisting of a preliminary ship design, a project implementation plan and an in-service support plan. Two consortiums were selected as the final competitors for the JSS contract: ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems Canada Inc. and SNC-Lavalin ProFac Inc. Each team received a $12.5 million contract from the Government of Canada for project definition (i.e. to create their designs and schedule for building).

ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems Canada Inc. (TKMS Canada) is prime contractor for the Canada North Atlantic Marine Partnership (CANAMP), one of the two groups selected for the JSS Project Definition Phase. Other principal members of the CANAMP Team are: Peter Kiewit Sons Co., a Canadian shipbuilder and marine contractor; L-3 Electronic Systems, a Canadian supplier of Integrated Logistics Support solutions; CAE Professional Services (formerly xwave), a Canadian supplier of comprehensive lifecycle information and data management solutions; MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates, Canadian experts in developing and delivering proven military and civilian Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (C4I) solutions; Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft, a German-based shipbuilder experienced in Ro-Ro and naval auxiliary ships, and Maersk Canada, a global firm and a world-class provider of In-Service and Fleet Operations Support.

SNC-Lavalin ProFac (ProFac) is Canada's leading provider of mission critical logistics and operations and maintenance support to the Canadian Forces. ProFac (then Fenco MacLaren Inc.) was responsible for engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of twelve Maritime Coastal Defence Vessel (MCDV) for the Canadian Navy. ProFac formed a world-class team to pursue the design, build and support of this important addition to the Canadian Navy’s fleet. Alion Science and Technology, the USA’s premiere naval ship designer would design the ships. Electronic Systems Integration would be jointly provided by Raytheon Canada and Thales Canada. The ships will be built in the Vancouver and Victoria shipyards of the Washington Marine Group. As Prime Contractor, SNC-Lavalin ProFac will provide Project Management, Integrated Logistics Support and In-Service Support.

The third and final phase – Project Implementation – will see the winning bidder awarded two separate, but related, contracts: one for the design and construction of the support ships; and the other for the in-service support for the life of the vessels. The Government anticipated the decision on the winning bid to occur in the 2007 timeframe, and expected delivery of the first support ship to take place by 2011.

SHIP PARTICULARS
Crew Size	30% to 50% less than current AORs
Length/Beam/Draft (Deep) m	210 / Panamax / 9.5 (notional)
Displacement (Deep)	28,000 tonnes (notional)
Speed	20 knots (sustained)
Range	10,800 @ 15 knots
SURVIVABILITY
Self Defence	Active & Passive
Damaged Stability	Enhanced Two Compartment
ICE CAPABILITY
First Year Ice	Yes
SEALIFT
Deck Space (inc. Upper Deck)	1,000 - 1,500 lane meters
Container System	Yes
Jetty Independence	Yes
UNDERWAY SUPPORT
Fuel	7,000 - 10,000 tonnes
JP 5	650 - 1,300 tonnes
Ammunition	1,100 Square Metres
JOINT HQ SUPPORT
Naval Communications	Yes
Shore Communications	Yes

Ice Strengthened Vessel is able to operate in very open pack ice (less than 3/70 concentration) and first-year ice less than 50 centimeters thick; ship structurally strengthened around the waterline with a conventional or non-icebreaking bow form; safe navigation possible only under escort by an icebreaker. Ice-strengthened vessels are designed for open water operation, but their hull has been strengthened and machinery often has more power compared to normal open-water vessels. The ability to move in ice is usually not the main criteria for these vessels, but open-water characteristics of the vessel generally play a very important part in the vessel design. Examples of these vessels are all the vessels currently operating in the Northern Baltic Sea during the winter, such as ferries, bulk carriers, and roro vessels.

Ice-capable Vessel is able to operate in first-year pack ice up to 8/10 concentration and 1 meter thick; ship structurally strengthened around the waterline, has an icebreaking bow and has more horsepower than required for transit through ice-free waters; usually designed with adequate power to break continuously 30 centimeters of first-year level ice.

Polar Research Vessel is an ice-capable vessel specifically designed for and dedicated to research; areas of operations include the marginal ice zone and unconsolidated pack ice of the summer melt season; most ships can continuously break up to 50 centimeters of first-year level ice.

Ice-breaking vessels are ships, for which ice going capability is crucial from a performance point of view. Ice-going capability has been defined – usually in very demanding ice conditions – in the technical requirements of the vessel. In addition, these vessels typically have the shipyard’s guarantee for performance in ice, performance that is often verified in full-scale ice tests.

Subarctic Icebreaker Vessel designed for icebreaking operations on seasonally ice-covered coastal seas and lakes; ship structurally strengthened around the waterline, has an icebreaking bow and can operate in areas of first- year ice up to 7.5 meters thick; areas of operations include the Great Lakes, Baltic Sea, and coastal regions of Canada, Alaska, and the USSR.

Polar Research Icebreaker Vessel that incorporates the ice capabilities of a polar icebreaker and the science capabilities of a polar research vessel; has extensive facilities to support oceanographic, meteorological and ice research in the Arctic and Antarctic; capable of continuously breaking a minimum of 1 meter level ice.

Polar Icebreaker Vessel designed specifically to operate independently in the polar regions in both first-year and multi-year ice; ship structurally strengthened throughout, has an icebreaking bow and has greatly increased horsepower and displacement for continuous icebreaking in 10/10 concentration; polar icebreakers can continuously break a range of ice thicknesses between 2 and 2.5 meters; the estimated world fleet in 1985 ws 34 ships.

Polar Icebreaker Requirements Study http://www.eagle.org/news/pubs/pdfs/Ice%20Class%20Newsletter.pdf">The First Arctic Tanker http://sunshiporg.homestead.com/manhattan.html

SS Manhattan

Oil was discovered on Alaska’s North Slope in 1968. The question of whether to export oil from Prudhoe Bay via pipeline or ship sparked a nationwide debate. Soon after the Prudhoe Bay discovery was announced in January 1968, plans for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) were also announced.

Environmental considerations delayed the permitting of TAPS until after the 1973 oil embargo that followed the Yom Kippur war in the Middle East. Even with the prospects of long lines at gas pumpsf Congressional approval of the TAPS right-of-way was deadlocked in the Senate until Vice-president Apew cast the deciding vote allowing the development of North America's largest oil field. TAPS construction began in 1974 and the first oil flowed in mid 1977.

Humble Oil and Refining (a subsidiary of Esso), was inspired to develop a new kind of ship: the icebreaking oil tanker. During the period 1968-71, Exxon, Arco, and BP participated in a project to determine the feasibility of transporting Alaskan North Slope crude oil via icebreaking tankers. Numerous studies and noteworthy accomplishments resulted from the program including the SS MANHATTAN icebreaking tests, the North Slope terminal design, an extensive collection of environmental data, and a feasibility design of an Arctic tanker. The operational and technical data was released to the Maritime Administration for dissemination to the U.S. maritime community.

Manhattan possessed a unique, transitional structure that bridged an evolutionary moment in ship design. Developed during the change from empirical, experiencedbased design to first-principals engineering aided by computers, the ship combined the daring size of the future with the conservative robustness of the past. When she slipped into the water off Quincy, MA, in 1961, the oil tanker Manhattan was the largest American-registered vessel afloat. She was 951 feet in length, 132 feet abeam, and 68 feet deep -- but had not stopped growing. Her 43,000 shaft horsepower powerplant is nearly 1-1/2 times more powerful than those on ships twice her size. In addition to size, the Manhattan was highly maneuverable, due to twin five-bladed propellers and twin rudders. Manhattan was a one-vessel breed of supertanker, more powerful, and more maneuverable than any similar ship on the seas of the time.

Manhattan underwent a seven-month-long conversion to icebreaking tanker. She was fitted with a new icebreaking bow designed to move the vessel up and over the ice until the ship's weight broke through. Steel belts were installed along the sides of her hull to protect it from the immense pressure of the ice. The nine-foot-wide, sloping steel belt, like a great, triangular blister, was added to the ship’s sides to increase strength and deflect the deadly pressure ice typical to the region. The ice belt helped the vessel on the second voyage, when the sloping sides caused the ice boulders to tumble back and away onto the floe. And her weight was increased by 9,000 tons to 151,500 tons, her length to more than 1,000 feet. The project, a test of the feasibility of transporting crude oil by sea from northern Alaska, cost three oil companies $40 million.

U.S. Coast Guard Cutters transited the Northwest Passage in 1952 and 1957. In 1969 the S.S. Manhattan, accompanied by the U.S. Coast Guard Cutters Northwind and Staten Island, transited this Passage. The S. S. Manhattan, an icebreaking tanker, became the first commercial ship to voyage through the Northwest Passage. She left Chester, Penn., on August 24 and arrived at Point Barrow, Alaska, on September 21. Esso sent the ship on a second voyage the following April, to test itself against Arctic winter ice. There, it encountered ice that was so tough the ship couldn’t even enter the Northwest Passage.

The experiment showed conclusively that it would be technically and economically feasible to do yearround marine transportation in tankers through the Northwest Passage.

A pingo is a cone of antediluvian ice, coated with frozen muck, a thousand feet at the base, one to two hundred feet high, sticking up like a dirty knife from the bottom of the arctic sea to within forty feet of the surface. It could pierce and rip the bottom of an unsuspecting deep-draft ship. In 1970, the Canadian scientific ship HUDSON, plotting the shape of the Beaufort Sea's basin with a side-scan sonar, found seven pingoes in a row. A few days later, the sonar watchers found a picket line of them stretched across the Northwest Passage. The discovery meant that the long-sought passage around the top of North America was at that time a dead end for supertankers and that the MANHATTAN, which had pioneered the route less than a year before, could be the last as well as the first to make the run.

The United States and Canada have a long-standing dispute over the legal status of the waters of the Northwest Passage between Davis Strait/Baffin Bay and the Beaufort Sea. The United States considers the passage a strait used for international navigation subject to the transit passage regime. Canada considers these waters to be Canadian and that controls can be applied to the passage, including requirements for prior authorization of the transit of all non-Canadian vessels.

Canada took exception to the US experimental voyage of the SS Manhattan and potentially shipping oil through the Northwest Passage. These passages gave tremendous support to inflamed nationalists pressing for declarations of Arctic sovereignty. They argue that such voyages with their attendant risk of oil spills which will irreparably harm Arctic ecology require immediate action by Canada to declare its sovereignty. Canada unilaterally passed a 100 mile environmental area that asserted control over ship construction and operation in that strait.

The US said that was illegal and did not accept it. The US Government would not accept the assertion of a Canadian claim that the Arctic waters are internal waters of Canada nor can we accept their other proposals. Such acceptance would jeopardize the freedom of navigation essential for United States naval activities worldwide, and would be contrary to the fundamental US position that the regime of the high seas can be altered only by multilateral agreement. Furthermore, US efforts to limit extensions of coastal state sovereignty over the high seas worldwide would be damaged when other nations see that a country -- physically, politically and economically -- as close to the United States as Canada, feels it can undertake such action in the face of United States opposition.

Following the S.S. Manhattan transit, Canada, in 1970, enacted its Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act to address the fragile Arctic environment and to prevent potential damage by vessel-source pollution. In the same year the U.S. protested the validity of the law because of the law's interference with navigational rights and freedoms. The US won complete and full navigational freedom for all the strait’s transit passage in the strait channel. In ice-covered areas the coastal state is going to have limited ability to set ship construction and operation standards. That also means that the US has rights within the 200-mile zone in that area.

On January 11, 1988, an Agreement on Arctic Cooperation was signed in Ottawa by Secretary of State George P. Shultz and Canadian Secretary of State for External Affairs Joe Clark. This agreement sets forth the terms for cooperation by the two governments in coordinating research in the Artic marine environment during icebreaker voyages and in facilitating safe, effective icebreaker navigation off their Arctic coasts.

Immediately following the success at Prudhoe Bay, drilling began in 1971 on the Yukon Coastal Plain and in the Mackenzie Delta. The next year saw exploration spread offshore from the delta and up north into the Arctic Island Archipelago. This includes delineation wells on large discoveries like Amauligak, Adlartok and Koponoar. Approximately 300,000 barrels of crude oil were tested, produced and shipped from the Amauligak discovery by tanker through the Beaufort and Bering Seas and sold to Japan in 1986. Full economic development of the area probably depends upon the construction of a pipeline.

Between 1982 and 2005, the summer sea-ice declined by an area equivalent of 22 Western U.S. states, mostly on the Russian side. In August 2005 the Russian steamer "Akademik Fyodorov" became the first ship to reach the North Pole without the help of an icebreaker. a 1240 mile underwater mountain range, the Lomonosov Ridge, which extends through the north polar region, is actually a geologic extension of Russia, thus allowing Russia to lay claim to the region under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Denmark contends that the Lomonosov Ridge is a geologic extension of Greenland, a Danish territory, whereas Canada claims it is an extension of Ellesmere Island. http://www.awi.de/en/infrastructure/ships/ http://www.ipyeaso.aari.ru/akfedorov.html Akademik Fyodorov (Ex:Akademik Fedorov) On 29 August 2005 Russia's Arctic fleet flagship Akademik Fyodorov has become the world's first transport vessel to have reached the North Pole without an icebreaker's assistance. Vice-president of the Association of Russian Polar Explorers Vladimir Strugatsky said, “The top of our planet was reached at 18:50, Moscow time in the course of the unique high latitude Arctica-2005 expedition.” Because of the time difference with Moscow, the sun is shining brightly at the Pole, the weather is good and windless, with the temperature of minus 10 degrees Celsius, Strugatsky said. The Akademik Fyodorov reached the 90th degree of Latitude North en route from the Novosibirsk islands to the drifting North Pole-33 station in order to pick up polar researchers who have been working in the Arctic for a year. Travelling across the North Pole is the shortest way to the station, which is 180 miles (two or three days) away from the ship, in the Western Hemisphere. The Akademik Fyodorov became the first vessel in the history of sea navigation to have sailed beyond the 85th parallel in the Arctic Ocean on its own, without the help of an icebreaker. The previous record of high-altitude navigation also belongs to this ship. In 2000 it crossed the 82nd parallel without the help of icebreakers in the area of the Mendeleyev Ridge. Russian researchers dived 4,200 meters (14,000 feet) in two mini-submarines to explore the ocean floor below the North Pole 1-2 August 2007 to back the country's claim to Arctic. "This is a serious, risky operation," Sergei Balyasnikov, press spokesman for the St. Petersburg-based Arctic Research Institute, said. "It is an extremely important act for Russia, which will demonstrate our capabilities in the Arctic. It is like hoisting a flag on the Moon." Russia claims a vast maritime territory stretching from its New Siberian Islands, between the Laptev and East Siberian Seas, up to the North Pole, which is believed to contain mineral resources. The claim has been challenged by other countries. But Balyashnikov said "a one-time dive would not naturally prove anything," and "continuous, regular work is needed" to substantiate the territorial claim. Researchers will also take soil and fauna samples on the ocean bed and will leave a Russian flag in a capsule. Russia has to prove the structure of the continental shelf is geologically similar to its territory. Moscow has said the underwater Lomonosov Ridge is an extension of its continental territory. The UN has yet to rule on the claim. The area around the Pole is currently an international territory administered by the International Seabed Authority. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking from the Philippines, said: "The goal of this expedition is not to stake Russia's claim, but to prove that our shelf spreads to the North Pole." The minister said he hoped the expedition would "allow us to acquire additional scientific proof" of this claim. The Akademik Fyodorov research vessel, carrying Mir 1 and Mir 2 mini-submarines, is heading for the Nansen-Gakkel and the Lomonosov Ridges, where the dive will take place, following the trail of the icebreaker Rossiya. The ship left Murmansk, on the Barents Sea, 24 July 2007. The mini-submarines were successfully tested Sunday when they submerged to a depth of about 1,500 meters (4,900 feet). As a second phase of the Akademik Fyodorov's expedition, a new floating polar station with equipment to monitor climate changes in the region will be set up and opened in mid-September. A variety of models have and are being used by the U.S and other countries for meeting polar icebreaker needs. The U.S. Coast Guard and the Chilean and Argentinean Navies operate their icebreakers using military personnel. Some countries build their ships to meet military specifications and others do not. The German research icebreaker, the Polarstern, is owned by the government but operated by a private contractor. The Swedish government’s operational arrangements for the Oden are similar to the German model. Both the Oden and the Polarstern are able to operate more than 300 days annually as a consequence of ship design and mode of operation. The Arctic Regional Research Vessel (ARRV) will be operated by civilian crews under contract to the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory Systems (UNOLS). NSF employs a contractor to operate and maintain the privately-owned Laurence M. Gould and Nathanial B. Palmer. The ships were built under a long-term lease agreement between the ship-owners and the Federal government, such that the construction costs are partially amortized over the duration of the lease (with the ship reverting to the owner at the government’s option at the end of the lease). These ships also operate more than 300 days annually. The ability of an icebreaker to break ice is, therefore, a function of the ship’s weight (displacement) and propulsive power for forcing it onto the ice. Developments in icebreaker technology since 1980 have made it possible to construct reliable icebreakers capable of year-round operations within the limits of safety and pollution prevention regulation. Ships presently in service demonstrate that this can be accomplished by icebreakers of much less power than many others still operating with older technology. Level ice is broken by using the force of the ship with a blunt spoon-shaped bow to bend the ice to its breaking point, rather than by crushing it. Early experience and theoretical calculations showed that blunt bow forms with small stem angles could break level ice more efficiently than wedge-shaped bows with larger stem angles. However, problems occur at sea when icebreakers encounter ridges formed by the movement of highly mobile sea ice. http://www.sjofartsverket.se/templates/SFVXPage____1077.aspx ODEN the largest of seven icebreakers operated by the Swedish Maritime Administration, which was deeply involved in the development of the conceptual, as well as the detailed, design. It was built in Sweden to break ice in the Baltic Sea during winter to keep the shipping routes between Sweden, Finland, and Russia open. Oden was not needed for this purpose in the summer, which is the best time researchers can go to the Arctic. Designed for escort ice-breaking and Arctic research operations, ODEN is very flexible, carrying scientific equipment, container labs, frozen storage, containers, and deep drilling equipment for geological purposes, etc. ODEN is an "ultra modern" icebreaker designed, in cooperation with GVA Technology AB of Gothenburg, Sweden, and Canadian Marine Drilling Ltd. of Calgary, to last far into the 21st century. ODEN is designed for worldwide operation in ice-infested waters and incorporates a number of novel features for efficient icebreaking and good maneuverability. The diesel mechanical propulsion system puts an end to a 56-year period of diesel electric propulsion on Baltic icebreakers. The Oden is a 108-m-long (353 feet), 24,500-hp, 13,000 tons displacement icebreaker originally built to assist commercial shipping but later modified to function as a platform for research in polar regions. The Oden is an extremely capable icebreaker for Arctic conditions, and was the first non-nuclear icebreaker to reach the North Pole. On several occasions she has reached the North Pole during research expeditions. Oden can maintain 3 knots of speed (5.5 km/h) while breaking 1.9 meter (6 foot) thick ice. The ship’s unique hull design (it is shaped like a flat-bottomed skiff) allows it to break ice not by smashing into it, but rather by riding up onto the floe and using the ship’s weight to crack it. In addition to using the spoon-shaped bow form, low-friction Inerta paint, and a hull wash system, the ODEN was fitted with larger reamers than its predecessor and a fast-heeling system. The system pumps water very quickly within the vessel from one side to the other (as much as 800 tons in 25 seconds), rocking the ship in heavy ice so that the reamers break the ice at the sides of the ship. Launched in 1988, the vessel is based at Norrkoping in Sweden. It is worked by a small crew of 15, although she has accomodation for 80 people which usually includes scientists. The Oden has its own helicopter, which is used to scout the ice ahead, ferry passengers, and conduct science missions. In addition to scientific research missions, the ship also is used to escort vessels through ice and to resupply Antarctic bases. ODEN has regularly carried out scientific expeditions to the central Arctic Ocean since 1991 and the new multibeam has been installed to enhance the icebreaker's scientific survey capability. The first multibeam mapping expeditions took place in 2007 and included the completely unexplored areas north of Greenland. There is now an established cooperation agreement between National Science Foundation (NSF), the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat and the Swedish Maritime Administration concerning the Icebreaker 'ODEN' in Antarctic for opening the passage in to the American research center McMurdo, by the Ross Sea in Antarctic. ODEN Call sign: SMLQ Built: Götaverken-Arendal in Göteborg 1987 Length: 107.69 m Breadth: 31.2 m Draught: 7.0-8.5 m Engine: Diesel mechanical Engine output: 24,500 hp Bunker capacity: 4,000 m3 Propeller: 2 i dysor Speed: 15 knots Crew: 19 persons The first sea icebreaker built for Nordic waters was delivered by the Finnboda Shipyard in 1890. The customer was the Finnish state and the ship was christened Murtaja (“The Breaker”). In 1897, the City of Stockholm bought Isbrytaren I (“Icebreaker I”), but the vessel was not particularly suitable for icebreaking at sea. Isbrytaren II, later rechristened Sankt Erik (“Saint Eric”) was built in 1915. The ship was to be used to facilitate winter navigation to Stockholm. The Swedish state rented the Sankt Erik to break ice at sea on several occasions during its 62 years in operation. She was used for icebreaking outside Stockholm for the first time in January 1916, when she assisted a few steamships that had frozen in Gävle, thus making a pioneering contribution to winter navigation in Norrland. The Sankt Erik is now a museum ship in Stockholm. The first state-owned icebreaker was delivered in 1926. First called “Statsisbrytaren” (“The State Icebreaker”), the ship was renamed after only three years and was thereafter called Atle. She had a steam engine and a propeller at every stem. Ymer, the world’s first icebreaker with a diesel electric engine, was delivered in 1932. Most modern icebreakers still have that type of engine. Once Ymer was in operation, some winter navigation was possible although the northern ports still had to be closed and efforts in the height of winter had to be concentrated on keeping the major ports in the Baltic Sea open. In especially severe winters, the best that could be accomplished was to keep traffic going along the south and west coasts. But it was at any rate possible to extend the shipping season in early winter and to open the ports in the Baltic and the northern Gulf of Bothnia earlier in the springtime. Kockums delivered Thule in 1953 and the Wärtsila Shipyard in Finland delivered Oden in 1957, Tor in 1964 and Njord in 1969. Sweden had thus acquired the resources to keep the ports in the northern Gulf of Bothnia open during all mild and normal ice winters, but it was still hard to manage the severe winters when the entire Gulf of Bothnia and parts of the Baltic Sea were covered with ice. New resources were needed to achieve the goal of “year-round navigation” in all important ports. A decision was taken to procure three large icebreakers. Atle came in 1974 and was followed by Frej in 1975 and Ymer in 1977. All three vessels were built by Wärtsilä, which had previously delivered Ale (1973), which was built to make winter navigation possible on Lake Vänern. Oden was built by the Götaverken Shipyard and delivered in 1988. Oden received global attention in 1991 when she became the first western surface-going ship to reach the North Pole. http://www.nautinst.org/ice/docs/IceStrengthenedShips.doc HMS Endurance (ex Anita Dan) The Royal Navy started its dedicated presence in Antarctica when HMS Protector was refitted following an aerial torpedo strike in the Mediterranean. From 1955 to 1968 HMS PROTECTOR made regular annual trips to the Antarctic and the Falkland Islands in support of the islands and the Antarctic Scientific Stations. HMS Endurance (aka The Red Plum) was a Royal Navy ice patrol vessel that served from 1968 to 1991. HMS Endurance was the only Royal Navy ship of suitable design for the ice patrol task. The first HMS Endurance (originally named Anita Dan) was built by Grogerwerft, Rendsburg, Germany, and launched in May 1956. In 1967 this Danish merchant ship was procured to replace HMS Protector, converted to an ice patrol ship in 1967-68, and awarded Pennant number A171. She acted as an ice patrol and hydrographic survey ship until 1991. Her equipment included a Westland WASP helicopter. The 1974 defence review witnessed the decision to withdraw HMS Endurance - its only naval presence in the region - from active service in the South Atlantic. Subsequent military cutbacks led to repeated proposals that the ship be withdrawn from service. Despite pressure from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for her retention, it was finally announced by Lord Trefgarne, (a junior minister in the Department of Trade) that the Endurance would be paid off in 1982 on her return to the UK. This sent a signal to the Argentine government that the British were no longer interested in patrolling the South Atlantic -- a decision that contributed to the Argentine invasion. The outbreak of the Falklands War found the Antarctic patrol vessel HMS Endurance alone, lightly armed, and stuck with a highly visible red and white peacetime paint scheme. Tense days followed as Endurance dodged from island to island, evading Argentine patrols and waiting for the arrival of British reinforcements. Endurance eventually aided in numerous operations against the Argentine forces, and a major Argentine surrender eventually took place aboard the vessel. Toward the end of her career she became known as HMS Encumbrance due to unreliability. By 1991 HMS Endurance was now 35 years old and was not built to the standards which would be required in a new ship for operation in ice. HMS Endurance had been subject to periodic structural surveys, but following the collision with an iceberg in 1989, which holed the ship and caused other structural damage, a system of full annual structural surveys was instituted. The last structural survey was carried out in 1990, following which the condition of the ship was judged acceptable for deployment to the Antarctic for the 1990–91 austral summer season. HMS Endurance returned from this deployment on 31 May 1991 and, following a period of leave and ship preparation, entered dock on 26 June. The 1991 structural survey commenced as planned on 01 July 1991. The results of the survey were considered in conjunction with the results of a metallurgical analysis of plate removed when the ship was repaired following the 1989 collision. The survey declared that the hull was not sound enough for a return to Antarctica and she was finally decommissioned. Paid off 21 November 1991, the vessel arrived at the breakers in Karachi 11 January 1993. She was replaced at short notice in 1991 by chartering the MV Polar Circle as HMS POLAR CIRCLE, later bought by the Royal Navy and renamed HMS ENDURANCE. http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.1843 HMS Endurance (ex MV Polar Circle) HMS Endurance is the Royal Navy’s sole Ice Patrol Ship. She is a class 1A1 icebreaker, with pennant number A171. She was originally built in Norway in 1990 as MV Polar Circle. The RN chartered her in 1991 before she commissioned as HMS Polar Circle on 21 November 1991. She was subsequently renamed HMS Endurance. Her mission is "To patrol and survey the Antarctic and South Atlantic, maintaining Sovereign Presence with Defence Diplomacy and supporting the global community of Antarctica". This involves close links with the Foreign Office, United Kingdom Hydrographic Office and the British Antarctic Survey. She deploys annually to the Antarctic, her operating area for 7 months of the year. Her base port is Portsmouth, which is also the ship's affiliated town. The Ship's motto is "Fortitudine Vincimus" ~ 'By Endurance We Conquer' The motto originates from that of the great Antarctic explorer, Sir Ernest Shackleton who made history in his ship, 'Endurance' in his expedition south in 1914-15. The original ship Endurance was initially built to carry polar bear hunting parties into the arctic. As such she was designed to withstand icy seas and a significant degree of pressure. Christened the Polaris she was bought by the Imperial Trans Antarctic Expedition and renamed the 'Endurance' by Sir Ernest Shackleton, an Antarctic explorer, specifically for his attempt at crossing the Antarctic continent. The original Endurance, a three masted barquentine, conveyed Sir Ernest Shackleton's British Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition team southwards from Britain in March 1914. The vessel was beset off Caird Coast, in the polar region, and drifted for several months. The Endurance became firmly wedged in ice while on its way to Antarctica in 1915. Drifting in the ice pack for 6 months before finally being crushed by pack ice in November 1915. What followed was one of the great survival stories of Antarctic exploration. Shackleton then with a few of his men rowed an epic 800 miles in an open boat in the icy Antarctic waters to South Georgia to get help. Not one man was lost. HMS Endurance is propelled by 2 diesel engines, these are huge, producing over 8000 shaft horse power. That's about the equivalent of 100 small family cars combined. Perhaps this is just as well as she displaces approximately 6000 tonnes, the equivalent of about 600 of those family cars. With her fuel tanks full to the brim of 1,200 cubic metres, that's 1,200,000 litres, she can travel an impressive 24,600 nautical miles. Enough to comfortably get all round the world, but it would take over 12 weeks.

HMS Endurance Statistics

Displacement:	6000 tons
Length:	91 meters
Beam:	17.9 meters
Draught:	8.5 meters
Top speed:	14 knots
Cruising speed:	12 knots
Complement:	112 plus 6 Royal Marines	Aircraft:	2 x Lynx helicopters
Radar:	Type R84 & M34 ARG surface search E/F and I bands Type 1006 navigation I band
Propulsion:	2 Bergen BRM8 diesels, 8160hp, 1 shaft with controllable pitch prop and bow and stern thrusters

http://www.aari.nw.ru/index_en.html http://www.scs-shipping.com/EnglishHome/Vessels/vessels.html By the early 1970s, the number of Soviet research vessels and their capacity for taking extended cruises had reached the point where oceanographic research could be conducted on a regular basis, both regionally and globally. Research vessels put into operation in succeeding years were generally built for special-purpose groups, such as the weather ships "Musson," "Passat," "Poryv," "Shkval," "E. Krenkel;" the satellite-tracking ships "Kosmonat Yu. Gagarin," "Kosmonat V. Komarov;" the general-purpose ships "Akademik Mstislav Keldysh," "Akademik Fyodorov," the new "Vityaz;" the research icebreaker "Otto Schmidt;" the selfcontained submersible vehicle "Sever;" the submarines "Vega" and "Severyanka," and others. The Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration has the Xuelong icebreaker to make yearly voyage to the Antarctic waters and specially survey to the Arctic Ocean. The ship has annual cruises to the Antarctic region traversing ocean areas and every two years a track to the Antarctic circumnavigates the Antarctic continent. Xiangyanghong 10 was China's first Antarctic exploration vessel. Built by China primarily for general oceanic investigation, it was used for only one expedition -- to build the Great Wall Station -- because it was not constructed to sail in Antarctic conditions. It is now called Yuanwang 4 and is used to receive satellite signals. China purchased its first ice going vessel, Jidi, from Finland. A supply, transport vessel it could navigate a field of floating ice but was not an icebreaker. Jidi was decommissioned after six years in service. Xuelong ( pronounced shway-long, for "Snow Dragon" ) is China's first icebreaker, Xuelong is the re-supply vessel and the scientific research platform of the Chinese Arctic and Antarctic research expeditions. It is well equipped with all the advanced systems of self-contained navigation and weather observation which is essential in polar voyages and research expeditions. There are a data processing center, seven laboratories with a total area of 200 square meters and basic operating equipment on board the vessel. It is also provided with three operating boats and a helicopter for transportation and research purposes in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Xuelong was built at the Kherson Shipyard, Ukraine in 1993. The Xue Long is the sister ship of the Vasiliy Golovnin, described as a Vitus Bering Class icebreaker. China spent 31 million yuan (US$3.7 million) to convert it into a transport ship for Antarctic expeditions. Xuelong replaced Jidi in 1994 and has remained in service ever since. Classified as a A2 class ice breaker (capable of breaking ice 1.2 meters thick), Xue Long was originally conceived for cargo transportation in the Arctic. It was purchased by China shortly after its commissioning and modified slightly to turn it into a polar research vessel. With a length of 167 meters, a beam of 22.6 meters and a draft of 9 meters with 21,250 tons fully loaded, Xue Long is currently the largest ice-breaker operating in Antarctic waters. It is capable of sailing at 17.9 knots in open water, although its normal speed when fully loaded is closer to 13 knots. China's first North Pole scientific expedition from July 1 to Sept. 9, 1999, aimed to collect scientific resources on the ecological system in the Arctic waters, and the atmosphere, geology, fishing, and marine environment of the area. China launched its second scientific expedition to the North Pole -- Chinese Arctic Expedition CHINARE Two -- on 15 July 2003 from Dalian, a port city in northeast China's Liaoning Province. The modern icebreaker "Snow Dragon", which had made the Arctic journey in 1999, carried 115 scientists from seven countries, including China, the United States and Finland, to the North Pole for a 74-day research expedition. In 2007 the vessel was extensively upgraded in order to extend its service by another fifteen years. The old forecastle was removed and replaced by a brand new bridge and accommodations. Laboratory space was extended to 200 m2. New winches were put in for marine research, and it was equipped with brand new control, communication, and navigation systems, so that it now boasts one of the best automation systems of any ice breaker. China's largest polar exploration ship "Xuelong" debuted in Shanghai on November 6, 2007 after more than six months of renovation work. The renovation cost over two hundred million yuan or around 27 million US dollars with major overhauls to the vessel's body, apartments, engine and electricity supply system. China's third Arctic expedition set sail from Shanghai in July 2008, with plans to study the polar region's distinctive maritime resources and air quality. China's third Arctic expedition boarding the ice-breaker "Xuelong" (Snow Dragon) returned to Shanghai at 2:00 p.m. on September 22, 2008. The ice-breaker reached at 85:25:00 degrees north latitude, breaking the record in China's sailing history. The vessel's dimensions are: long 167M beam 22.6M draft 9M displacement 21250T cruising radius 12000 NM speed 17.9 knots berths 128 Project 10620 Vitus Bering Arctic Supply Ship A multipurpose icebreaker/transport/supply ship for the Arctic, the diesel-electric VITUS BERING, built at the Khersonsk yard in Ukraine, entered service with the USSR Far East Fleet in 1988. This ship was the first of 7 Vitus Bering Class Polar Support Vessels. The ship was built by the assembly line method, occupying two building berth positions with her bow end toward the launching dock. Since the ship has several new mechanisms, devices, systems and kinds of equipment, appropriate production processes had to be developed and used. Not everything went smoothly during construction. There were, for instance, incomplete deliveries of related equipment and other errors on the part of suppliers. Despite these problems, the first voyages of the diesel-electric vessel clearly demonstrated her advantages over other ships performing supply operations in the Arctic. Vitus Bering, a Danish mariner in the Russian navy, first sailed the sea that bears his name. In 1724, Vitus Bering was sent by the Russians to explore whether there was an overland route from Asia to North America; instead he found the Bering Strait[8] and the way into the Northwest Passage. However, despite the fact that Europeans knew that there was a navigable (if ice-choked) Northwest Passage, there were only notable failures of exploration. This series replaced the old Amguema series. The VITUS BERING conformed to the USSR Register and to International Conventions. Her principal particulars are: length oa 159.8m; breadth, moulded 22.4m; depth, amidships 12m; draft, maximum 9m; displacement at 9m draft 20,200 tonnes; deadweight at 9m draft 10,690 tonnes; gross tonnage 13,514 reg. tonnes; speed 16.4 knots; propulsion 9.3 megawatts; cruising range 10,000 miles. The ship's design ice performance conforms to the capabilities of modern icebreakers during joint cruising. Hull ice strengthening is designed for the highest USSR Register category for transport ships, ULA, and additional reinforcement on the forward bottom and chine ensure the required performance. One of the ship's main features is its ability to use new road offloading equipment. The main power plant consists of two automatic diesel generators based on the Wartsila-Sulzer 12ZV40/48 engines. The "Vasiliy Golovnin" is a Vitus Bering Class Icebreaking ship operated by the Far-Eastern Shipping Company of Vladivostok. She was built in the Ukraine in 1988 and is a sister ship to the "Xue Long" operated by the Chinese Antarctic Programme. She can carry in her holds the equivalent of 305 standard containers and has 5 deck cranes, a stern ramp and an aft helideck and hanger. For the 2003-04 season she was chartered by the Australian Antarctic Division to undertake their voyage 5 which was described as a Continental resupply trip to Casy, Davis and Mawson Bases. MV Vasiliy Golovnin replaced the smaller MV Polar Bird which was used for some 20 years. Polar Bird was sold earlier in 2003 by its Norwegian owners following its final voyage for the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD). The AAD completed negotiations with the Far Eastern Shipping Company to charter the Russian-registered MV Vasiliy Golovnin. MV Vasiliy Golovnin was built to carry general and bulk cargo, cargo fuel oil, heavy vehicles and containers. It is fitted with hydraulic electric deck cranes, stern quarter door and landing ramp, helicopter hangar and helipad. The vessel, powered by two 5,730 Kw diesel electric engines, has a crew of 39 and accommodation for approximately 27 expeditioners. Length, o.a. - 159.8 m Breadth - 22.4 m Depth - 12.0 m Draft - 9 m DWT - 10,800 t M.E. power - 9,000 kW Speed - 15.9 knots Displacement - 16,100 t Hull No. Ship Name Shipowner/Country Delivery Date 5001 Vitus Bering FESCO 03.10.86 5002 Aleksey Chirikov FESCO 30.09.87 5003 Vladimir Arsenyev FESCO 29.12.87 5004 Vasiliy Golovnin FESCO 24.12.88 5005 Stiepan Krasheninnikov FESCO 30.09.89 ARCTIC SUPPLY SHIPS - Project 10621 Length, o.a. - 167.00 m Breadth - 22.60 m Depth - 13.50 m DWT - 10,125 t Hull No. Ship Name Shipowner Delivery Date 6001 Ivan Papanin Murmansk Shipping Company 29.12.90 6002 Juvent Russia 30.12.91 6003 Snow Dragon China 25.09.93 6004 Netherlands Antilles 28.03.03 The "Krasin" is a A1 Class Finnish built icebreaker operated by the Russian company FESCO (Far Eastern Shipping Company) and based in Vladivostok in Siberia. It was built in 1976 and is 442 feet long and can break ice up to 6 feet thick. Becuase of extreme ice build up in McMurdo Sound over the past winter season caused by the giant B15A iceberg and the availability of only a single US Coast Guard icebreaker, the "Polar Star", it was decided by the American Deep Freeze authorities to hire the "Krasin" for the 2004-05 McMurdo "break-in". "Krasin" to act as support ship to oil rig operations in the Sea of. The "Polarstern" is the main German Antarctic support vessel. It is a fully ice-strenthened icebreaker class vessel operated by the Alfred-Wegener Institute. Each year during the Austral summer it resupplies the German Neumayer Antarctic Base station as well as the Filchner Ice shelf station. In association with the South African SANAE it also helps in the resupply of the South African Bases http://www.researchvessels.org/country/USA/Palmer/index.htm http://dikson21.narod.ru/photo/page_ledokol.htm http://portal.pohub.com/ the Canadian Arctic Classes 1 to 10 DNV Ice Class Notations •Icebreaker •Polar-05 (or-10 or -20) •Ice-05 (or -10 or -15) •Ice-1A*F •Ice-1A* •Ice-1A •Ice-1B •Ice-1C •Ice-C •(Sealer) 1A Super newbuilding : •Finnish-Swedish rules: –5 knots in 1.0m brash ice with 0.1m frozen top layer •Lloyd’s Register: –5 knots in 0.3m solid ice with snow on top •American Bureau of Shipping: –Only brash ice Traditionally ice breaking ships have been quite poor in open water. The total efficiency has been 20-40 % less than a good open water vessel. This has been mainly due to the bow forms, which have been developed to break thicker and thicker ice. Open water characteristics have suffered. In the past there were some icebreakers with bow propellers. These were mainly for Baltic operations. But also the experience with Arctic icebreakers showed better performance in severe ice conditions when running astern. The stronger vessels to be assisted in all conditions are 1A super and 1A class ships. Weaker ice classes are 1B, 1C and 2 vessels, which are given assistance according to the ice conditions. A 1A super class vessel, for example, is required to have a strong hull and powerful engines. The more efficient 1A super and 1A class ships are able to sail unassisted in most ice conditions. Other vessels are usually assisted by icebreakers. In more severe ice conditions, they are towed. http://veps.fma.fi/portal/page/portal/fma_fi_en/services/winter_navigation For decades, Finland has been one of the world’s leading countries for building icebreakers and developing icebreaking technology. In 1898 Finland acquired Europe’s first icebreaker fitted with one bow propeller. The bow propeller gave the icebreaker more agility and power. In those days, icebreaking consisted primarily of rapid charges in which the icebreaker rose briefly on top of the ice before splitting it apart. These vessels were steam-powered. In 1938 Finland’s first diesel-electric icebreaker was completed, the Sisu. This was a great advance over earlier types. It was nimble and economical, and its operational range was better than that of steam-powered icebreakers. The next great step forwards was the building of the Tarmo class in the 1950s and 1960s, followed by the construction of the big icebreakers Urho and Sisu in 1975–1976. These were built after the decision was made to permit year-round shipping to the ports in the northern Gulf of Bothnia. The Urho and the Sisu have engines rated at 16,200 kilowatts. They have five diesel-electric engines and four screws. http://www.iacs.org.uk/document/public/Publications/Unified_requirements/PDF/UR_I_pdf410.pdf INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CLASSIFICATION SOCIETIES Requirements concerning POLAR CLASS http://www.iflos.org/uploads/IMO%20Guidelines%20Arctic.pdf GUIDELINES FOR SHIPS OPERATING IN ARCTIC ICE-COVERED WATERS INTERNATIONAL MARITIME ORGANIZATION The use of the term "Polar Class" is somewhat confusing. Acording to the International Association of Classification Societies, all vessels operating in sea ice must be assigned a polar class, with PC 1 being capable of "Year-round operation in all Polar waters" Transport Canada, “Equivalent Standards for the Construction of Arctic Class Ships.” http://www.tc.gc.ca/MarineSafety/TP/Tp12260/menu.htm Ships operating in the Arctic environment are exposed to a number of unique risks. Poor weather conditions and the relative lack of good charts, communication systems and other navigational aids pose challenges for mariners. The remoteness of the areas makes rescue or clean-up operations difficult and costly. Cold temperatures may reduce the effectiveness of numerous components of the ship, ranging from deck machinery and emergency equipment to sea suctions. When ice is present, it can impose additional loads on the hull, propulsion system and appendages. Guidelines for ships operating in Arctic ice-covered waters are intended to address those additional provisions deemed necessary for consideration beyond existing requirements of the SOLAS Convention, in order to take into account the climatic conditions of Arctic ice-covered waters and to meet appropriate standards of maritime safety and pollution prevention. All the major classification societies have their own ice rules, with ice classes for various ice conditions. With a few exceptions, the classification societies are using the Finnish-Swedish Ice Class Rules (FSICR) for lighter ice classes in sub-arctic ice conditions. Generally, the FSICR notation differs between classification societies, even if the notation is actually referring to the same FSICR rule. For higher ice classes there are various ice rules and interpretations of the rules resulting in diverse ice notations and diverse designs for vessels intended for traffic even in the same sea areas. The comparison of different ice classes is difficult, as different rules emphasize different technical aspects. Several comparison tables have been created, but one has to remember that the comparison tables are always an approximation of the equivalence. Each Classification Society has a set of rules for the strengthening for navigation in ice, and these are now in the process of harmonisation with the introduction of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) Polar Ship Rules. The IACS Polar Ship Rules are created in line with the IMO Guidelines for Ships Operating in Arctic Ice Covered Waters to provide comprehensive requirements for the safe navigation of ships in Arctic waters. The Canadian Arctic Ice Regime Shipping System (AIRSS) uses ice conditions and vessel class to provide guidance on safe navigation in ice. Ships of Arctic Standard as prescribed by Canada's Arctic Shipping Pollution Prevention Regulations are divided into categories. The categories are based upon the purpose for which the vessel is designed. They are related to the manner in which a ship is designed to break ice, as well as the type or thickness of ice. The basic philosophy is that ships may be operated to their fullest capability within their structural capacity. For a Class 10 or Category 1 a ship which is designed and constructed for the purposes of unrestricted navigation in Canadian Arctic waters; and the management of large ice features. For Class 8 or Category 2 there is a requirement that the ship is fitted with a structural monitoring system that will enable the person in charge of navigation to determine the severity of ice loads during various operations, and if necessary, warn them to reduce the loads during ramming. Not all ships which enter the Arctic environment will be able to navigate safely in all areas at all times of the year. A system of Polar Classes has therefore been developed to designate different levels of capability. In parallel to the development of other Guidelines, the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) has developed a set of Unified Requirements which, in addition to general classification society rules, address all essential aspects of construction for ships of Polar Class. Requirements of ice loads and scantlings vary among the currently available ice class rules. This reflects different design scenarios, concepts and ice mechanism assumptions embedded in the ice class rules of the different societies. Ice Class Rules establish design requirements for hull structures in an ice belt where the external hull surfaces will encounter ice. Strength requirements are specified for shell plating, frames (including local and main supporting members), and bulkheads. Some Ice Class Rules specify additional hull girder bending loads for vessels that may be raised by an ice pack. The strength requirements are accompanied with material requirements and abrasion/corrosion allowance. For machinery, quite varied engineering practices and design philosophies have been used in the development of the various ice class rules. To establish greater consistency, IACS is currently working toward adopting a new set of Unified Requirements for Polar Class Ships (PCS). These will unify the ice class rules as well as respond to the need for a technical complement to the IMO Guidelines for Ships Operating in Arctic Ice-Covered Waters. A system of Polar Classes has been developed to designate different levels of capability for vessels navigating in certain areas at a certain time of the year in ice-covered water. Seven ice classes are proposed in the requirements, namely, PC1, PC2, PC3, PC4, PC5, PC6, and PC7. Through cooperation with the Finnish Maritime Administration (FMA), the two lowest IACS polar classes (PC7/PC6) have been developed to align with the highest Baltic Ice Class (1A and 1A super). To maintain this alignment extensive calibration and validation for the ice load formulae were performed by the project team members from the five class societies (ABS, DNV, GL, LR, and RMRS), Canadian Transport and FMA. POLAR CLASS GENERAL DESCRIPTION PC 1 Year-round operation in all Arctic ice-covered waters PC 2 Year-round operation in moderate multi-year ice conditions PC 3 Year-round operation in second-year ice which may include multi-year ice inclusions PC 4 Year-round operation in thick first-year ice which may include old ice inclusions PC 5 Year-round operation in medium first-year ice which may include old ice inclusions PC 6 Summer/autumn operation in medium first-year ice which may include old ice inclusions PC 7 Summer/autumn operation in thin first-year ice with which may include old ice inclusions In Canada the Arctic Ice Regime Shipping System (AIRSS) (Transport Canada, 1996) has been implemented as part of a revised Arctic Shipping Pollution Prevention Regulations (ASPPR, 1989). ASPPR is oriented to safety of shipping operations, setting requirements for hull strength, machinery strength and the limiting ice conditions in which various categories of vessels are permitted to operate. The AIRSS provides advice on whether a particular class of vessel can advance into an area having a specific set of ice conditions. In Russia, the Russian Registry maintains a classification of icebreakers and icebreaking vessels. Nominal ship equivalencies Finnish/Swedish (Baltic)Class* ASPPR Class Russian Register Class Polar Class IA Super Type A UL PC6 IA Type B L1 PC7 The POLAR rules are intended for vessels operating unassisted in multi-year winter ice with floes and glacial inclusions as found in the Arctic, sub-Arctic and/or Antarctic regions. Occasional ramming is anticipated. The notation ensures that the vessel has sufficient strength and equipment to continuously operate in the specified ice conditions of the Arctic, sub-Arctic and/or Antarctic regions without icebreaker assistance. POLAR 10 definition: Vessels intended for ice breaking, built for another main purpose. Ice conditions: Winter ice with multi-year ice-floes and glacial ice inclusions. Accidental ramming. Figures indicate nominal ice thickness in dm. REGISTER OF SHIP 2003 RUSSIAN MARITIME REGISTER OF SHIPPING http://globalocean.ru/KM_L2.htm

UL

Ice strengthening notation of the ship (independent navigation in the Arctic in summer and autumn in light ice conditions and in the non-arctic freezing seas all the year round)

ULA

IIce strengthening notation of the ship (independent navigation in all areas of the World ocean in summer and autumn)

L1

Ice strengthening notation of the ship (independent navigation in the Arctic in summer in broken open ice and in the non-arctic freezing seas all the year round in light ice conditions

L2

Ice strengthening notation of the ship (independent navigation in the non-arctic seas in small open ice)

L3

Ice strengthening notation of the ship (independent navigation in the non-arctic seas in small open ice)

L4

Ice strengthening notation of the ship (independent navigation in the non-arctic seas in small open ice, short period)

LL1

Icebreaker category notation (intended for all kinds of icebreaking operations in the arctic seas on coastal routes and shore ice belt routes in high latitudes all the year round and capable of forcing the way in compact ice field over 2,0 m thick. The total shaft power is 47807 kW and over)

LL2

Icebreaker category notation (intended for all kinds of icebreaking operations in the arctic seas during the summer period and for operation on coastal routes during the winter period and capable of forcing the way in compact ice field less than 2,0 m thick. The total shaft power is 22065-47807 kW)

LL3

Icebreaker category notation (intended for all kinds of icebreaking operations in the non-arctic freezing seas, in shallow waters and mouths of rivers flowing into the arctic seas during the winter period without assistance as well as for operation on coastal routes in the arctic seas under convoy of icebreakers of higher category all the year round, and capable of forcing the way in compact ice field up to 1,5 m thick. The total shaft power is 11032-22065 kW)

LL4

Icebreaker category notation (intended for all kinds of icebreaking operations in harbour and roadstead water areas without assistance all the year round as well as for operations in the non-arctic freezing seas under convoy of icebreakers of higher category during the winter period, and capable of forcing the way in compact ice field up to 1,0 m thick. The total shaft power is under 11032 kW)

LL6

Icebreaker category notation (intended for icebreaking operations in harbour and roadstead water areas as well as in the non-arctic freezing seas with ice up to 1,5 m thick, and capable of forcing the way continuously running in compact ice field up to 1,0 m thick)

LL7

Icebreaker category notation (intended for icebreaking operations: on coastal routes of the arctic seas in winter and spring with ice up to 2,0 m thick and 2,5 m thick in summer and autumn; in the non-arctic freezing seas and mouths of rivers flowing into the arctic seas with ice up to 2,0 m thick, and capable of forcing the way continuously running in compact ice field up to 1,5 m thick. The total shaft power is not less than 11 mW)

LL8

Icebreaker category notation (intended for icebreaking operations: on coastal routes of the arctic seas in winter and spring with ice up to 3,0 m thick and in summer and autumn with no restrictions, and capable of forcing the way continuously running in compact ice field up to 2,0 m thick. The total shaft power is not less than 22 mW)

LL9

Icebreaker category notation (intended for icebreaking operations: in the arctic seas in winter and spring with ice up to 4,0 m thick and in summer and autumn with no restrictions, and capable of forcing the way continuously running in compact ice field up to 2,5 m thick. The total shaft power is not less than 48 mW)

LU1

Ice strengthening notation of the ship (independent navigation in small open ice in the non-arctic seas, short period, and in compact ice up to 0,4 m thick in a navigable passage astern an icebreaker)

LU2

Ice strengthening notation of the ship (independent navigation in small open ice in the non-arctic seas and in compact ice up to 0,55 m thick in a navigable passage astern an icebreaker)

LU3

Ice strengthening notation of the ship (independent navigation in small open ice in the non-arctic seas and in compact ice up to 0,7 m thick in a navigable passage astern an icebreaker)

LU4

Ice strengthening notation of the ship (independent navigation in young open arctic ice up to 0,6 m thick in winter and spring, and up to 0,8 m thick in summer and autumn. Navigation in a navigable passage astern an icebreaker in young arctic ice up to 0,7 m thick in winter and spring, and up to 1,0 m thick in summer and autumn)

LU5

Ice strengthening notation of the ship (independent navigation in young open arctic ice up to 0,8 m thick in winter and spring, and up to 1,0 m thick in summer and autumn. Navigation in a navigable passage astern an icebreaker in young arctic ice up to 0,9 m thick in winter and spring, and up to 1,2 m thick in summer and autumn)

LU6

Ice strengthening notation of the ship (independent navigation in young open arctic ice up to 1,1 m thick in winter and spring, and up to 1,3 m thick in summer and autumn. Navigation in a navigable passage astern an icebreaker in young arctic ice up to 1,2 m thick in winter and spring, and up to 1,7 m thick in summer and autumn)

LU7

Ice strengthening notation of the ship (independent navigation in young close arctic ice up to 1,4 m thick in winter and spring, and up to 1,7 m thick in summer and autumn with short ramming rammer of ice ridges. Navigation in a navigable passage astern an icebreaker in young arctic ice up to 2,0 m thick in winter and spring, and in biennial arctic ice up to 3,2 m thick in summer and autumn)

LU8

Ice strengthening notation of the ship (independent navigation in close young and biennial arctic ice up to 2,1 m thick in winter and spring, and up to 3,1 m thick in summer and autumn. Ramming rammer of ice ridges. Navigation in a navigable passage astern an icebreaker in biennial arctic ice up to 3,4 m thick in winter and spring, and in perennial ice in summer and autumn with no restrictions)

LU9

Ice strengthening notation of the ship (independent navigation in close perennial arctic ice up to 3,5 m thick in winter and spring, and up to 4,0 m thick in summer and autumn. Ramming rammer of ice ridges. Short ramming rammer of the young and biennial close ice segments)

http://www.shippingtimes.co.uk/item448_canada_coastguard.htm Class 1300 Icebreaker Louis S. St-Laurent CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent is a Canadian Coast Guard "Gulf" class heavy icebreaker. Named after the twelfth Prime Minister of Canada, Louis St. Laurent, the vessel is classed a "Heavy Gulf Icebreaker" and is the largest icebreaker and ship in the Canadian Coast Guard's fleet. At 392.5 feet in length, 80 feet in beam, and over 15,000 tons (30 million pounds) deadweight, the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent is the undisputed queen of the Canadian ice breaking fleet. Named after the twelfth Prime Minister of Canada, Louis S. St-Laurent is without question a world class icebreaker and polar scientific research vessel. Canadian Vickers Ltd. laid the keel in 1967 and completed construction in Montreal, Quebec,of the vessel in 1969. Contracted for $55 million Canadian initially (roughly equivalent in 1967 U.S. $ ), the ship was completed at a cost of around $80 million Canadian. The CCGS LOUIS S ST. LAURENT was conceived and built in the 1960's and then essentially re-constructed in the 1990's. The requirement for the mid-life modernization of this 21-year-old icebreaker was not justified on the basis of defined levels of service. The Coast Guard did not follow its own vessel modernization and acquisition strategy in proceeding with this project, and did not adequately define the statement of work and the costs at the outset. CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent underwent an extensive and costly modernization at Halifax Shipyard Ltd. in Halifax, Nova Scotia between 1988-1993 which saw her hull lengthened as well as new propulsion and navigation equipment installed. Over the five-year period preceding her mid-life modernization, the vessel's utilization averaged under 30 percent (calculated on the basis of 365 days per year). The low utilization was attributable to its time in maintenance and to management decisions to utilize the vessel for primary arctic missions, and in southern waters only in cases of urgency or unavailability of other Coast Guard icebreakers. An unsolicited proposal to modernize the LSL was submitted by Halifax-Dartmouth Industries Limited (HDIL) in October 1986. In reviewing this proposal, the Coast Guard stated the ceiling price for the contract would reach $71.2 million, whereas the Coast Guard's planned cost was $51 million. The Department stated that the cost difference was in keeping with the estimated 20 percent savings that have accrued historically when competitive bidding has been used instead of a sole-source contract. The Coast Guard recommended that the Crown proceed with a competitive tendering process for the mid-life modernization of the LSL. However, in June 1987, Cabinet directed that the modernization of the LSL be sole-sourced to HDIL as the prime contractor, for socio-economic reasons. A number of changes were made in the Statement of Requirements over that time period leading up to the decision to embark on the re-construction. The design decision making precesses were developed relevant to the social and economic factors, the technology levels and the regulatory regimens prevalent then and now. The reconstruction project comprised: removal of all asbestos containing materials; removal and replacement of the bow section complete with an air bubbler systems; replacement of the steam electric propulsion plant with a more efficient diesel electric power generation system; modernization of the heavy lift and aviation facilities. Following the removal of asbestos and machinery extensive hull corrosion was uncovered leading to a structural survey. The findings of the survey led to structural modifications to the heeling tanks, replacement of tank tops, shell plate renewal and weld zone corrosion protection of the hull plating. This was not the Coast Guard's first indication of corrosion problems on the vessel. In 1984, an ultrasound survey of the steel showed varying degrees of corrosion, although not massive at the time. In 1987, prior to the modernization, a pre-mid-life condition survey was carried out but did not identify the extent of the problem. Arctic trials were conducted in September 1993. The ship was costly to operate because of its large crew and the inefficiency of its propulsion system, which consumes far more fuel than other propulsion systems. Built originally with steam turbine propulsion, her 1989 midlife refit converted to a diesel electric system, her current means of propulsion. Five massive diesel engines drive the generators that provide electrical power for three shafts and propellers. What is particularly notable with the system in this regard is that there is complete flexibility and control of where the power is generated. The five diesels are not dedicated or otherwise limited to where they send their power. Any diesel can send power to any of the shafts. This gives the Captain tremendous flexibility with the 27,000 maximum horsepower and adds to the safety and smooth operation of the ship. The modernization program was controversial as the government of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney had initially proposed building the "Polar 8" class of icebreakers for promoting Canadian sovereignty in territorial waters claimed by Canada; the USCGC Polar Sea had made an unauthorized transit of Canada's Northwest Passage in 1985 early in Mulroney's administration, provoking a strong nationalist out-cry across the country. However, budget cuts to proposed expansions of the coast guard and armed forces were scrapped in 1988. In compensation to the coast guard, the government opted to modernize the largest icebreaker in its fleet, the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent. The ship has three fixed-pitch propellers. Five diesel engines supply three propulsion motors that can deliver a total of 30,000 hp to the three shafts. The Louis S. St-Laurent uses an average of 15,000 hp; occasional boosts of power to 25,000 hp are required in heavier ice conditions. The ship carries two BO 105-BS4 helicopters for ice reconnaissance and science support. She has been based at CCG Base Dartmouth in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia for her entire career. The vessel's current operation tempo consists of summer voyages to Canada's Arctic where she supports the annual Arctic sealift to various coastal communities and carries out multi-disciplinary scientific expeditions. During the winter months, CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent sometimes operates in the Gulf of St. Lawrence to aid ships in transiting to Montreal, Quebec, although she usually only serves this assignment during particularly heavy ice years. Over the years, the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent has also steadily provided reliable escort and resupply service to isolated settlements and commercial operations in the arctic, and she will continue to do so. The Canadian Coast Guard’s most capable icebreaker, the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent, is scheduled to be decommissioned in 2017. As such, the Government will replace this vessel with a new polar class icebreaker that has even greater icebreaking capabilities than the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent. Length: 111.54 m Breadth: 24.38 m Draft: 9.91 m Freeboard: 6.4 m Hold 1: 300 m3 Hatch Size 1 (l x w): 3.5 m X 3 m Hold 2: 36 m3 Hatch Size 2 (l x w): 3.5 m X 3 m Main Deck Area: 320 m2 Boat Deck Area: 216 m2 Forcastle: N/A After Deck Area: 120 m2 Gross Tonnage: 11345 grt Net Tonnage: 3403 nrt Cruising Speed: 16 kts Max. Speed: 20 kts Cruising Range: 23000 nm Endurance: 205 days Fuel Consumption: 24 m3/day Fuel Capacity: 4800 m3 Fresh Water: 200 m3 Helicopter Accomodations Flight Deck Area: 360 m2 Hangar Area: 132 m2 Hangar Gear: Yes Fuel Capacity: 40 m3 T1200 Class Icebreakers The CCGS Amundsen (ex Sir John Franklin) was built in 1979 and is one of the Canadian Coast Guard's four T1200 Class Icebreakers. She was laid up in 1996 due to a reduced operational requirement for the fleet of heavy icebreakers. In 2003, through the efforts of a consortium of marine research institutions, led by Dr. Louis Fortier of Laval University and including the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), a proposal to refit this icebreaker to support Arctic research for six months of the year was accepted by the Canada Foundation for Innovation. Under this proposal, DFO agreed to provide the ship and contribute to its initial refit. Sir John Franklin (1786-1847) was a Naval officer and arctic explorer. He led an overland expedition in 1821 to map the arctic coast which was disastrous; but in 1825-27 he successfully charted from Prudhoe Bay to Coppermine. In 1845 with two vessels, Erebus and Terror, he attempted to find a Northwest passage, but disappeared. A logbook was later found recording his death. The many expeditions that searched for Franklin explored vast arctic areas. Roald AMUNDSEN (1872-1928)was truly an Arctic explorer who is held in high regard with respect to his contributions to what can be rightly construed as Canada’s development in the Arctic. CCGS AMUNDSEN Length: 98.15 m Breadth: 19.5 m Draft: 7.16 m Freeboard: 3.66 m Hold 1: 500 m3 Hatch Size 1 (l x w): 4.9 m X 3.6 m Hold 2: 0 m3 Hatch Size 2 (l x w): X Main Deck Area: 152.7 m2 Boat Deck Area: 82.25 m2 Forcastle: N/A After Deck Area: 82.25 m2 Gross Tonnage: 5911 grt Net Tonnage: 1678 nrt Cruising Speed: 14 kts Max. Speed: 16 kts Cruising Range: 15000 nm Endurance: 192 days Fuel Consumption: 14.2 m3 Fuel Capacity: 2729 m3 Fresh Water: 135 m3 Helicopter Accomodations Flight Deck Area: 137 m2 Hangar Area: 42.6 m2 Hangar Gear: Yes Fuel Capacity: 3 m3 http://www.ccg-gcc.gc.ca/eng/Ccg/fleet CCGS TERRY FOX Length: 88 m Breadth: 17.82 m Draft: 8.3 m Freeboard: 0.75 m Hold 1: 490 m3 Hatch Size 1 (l x w): 3 m X 2 m Hold 2: 0 m3 Hatch Size 2 (l x w): X Main Deck Area: 468 m2 Boat Deck Area: 64 m2 Forcastle: 256 m2 After Deck Area: N/A Gross Tonnage: 4234 grt Net Tonnage: 1955 nrt Cruising Speed: 15.5 kts Max. Speed: 16 kts Cruising Range: 1920 nm Endurance: 58 days Fuel Consumption: 35 m3 Fuel Capacity: 1919 m3 Fresh Water: 42 m3 Helicopter Accomodations Flight Deck Area: 231 m2 Hangar Area: Hangar Gear: No Fuel Capacity: Drums http://www.casr.ca/ft-harper1-2.htm Armed Naval Heavy Icebreaker In November 2005, during the 2006 election campaign, Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper announced a ”Canada First“ northern strategy that included ”three new armed naval heavy ice breakers.“ The Conservative platform stated that "The Conservative’s are operating on a “Canada First” plan, in which they would secure Canada’s sovereignty at home first, instead of focusing on international missions at the expense of our home defences. ... If there is one major weak spot in Canadian sovereignty right now, it is that of the Arctic, where the military lacks the necessities to operate; for example, our navy vessels are not strong enough to cut through anything more than light pack ice in the Arctic. A Conservative government would: Station three new armed naval heavy icebreakers our of Iqaluit as well as 500 crew and support personnel for these vessels. This would also include the construction of a new deep-water docking facility for these icebreakers." The key requirement of the Harper plan involves the procurement of icebreakers.81 The ability to project and provide year round surface presence is critical as commercial traffic increases. But Prime Minister Harper's first budget made no mention of the icebreakers, and they were nowhere to be found in the $17.1-billion of defense purchases announced in June 2006. Many argued that this function should not be provided by the Canadian Forces. Icebreaker operations require different navigation and operator expertise as compared to open water. Senators Kenny and Meighen, Chairs of the Standing Committee of National Security and Defence believed that the Coast Guard should remain the agency responsible for icebreaking with an increased constabulary role as required. Recognizing this issue and the new emphasis placed on the Arctic by the Harper government, the CF hosted a Conference on Defence Capabilities for Canadian Arctic Sovereignty, 25 -29 September 2006. The CF Force Development staff gathered all government departments who have issues, presence, and mandates in the North. The intent was to determine what response and tasks would be required of the CF to assist in the Arctic to include surveillance, presence, emergency assistance and support to other OGDs. A new Heavy Arctic Icebreaker would enable the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) to break ice year-round in Canada’s Arctic waters. The Standing Senate Committee on National Security and Defence stated in 2007 that the CCG, which has an extensive experience in the icebreaking business, should have the capacity to ensure that marine traffic can move safely through and around ice in Polar waters year round. However, of the CCG’s 19 icebreakers, only two are Heavy Arctic Icebreakers which are only capable of sustained operations in the Canadian Arctic for the period of early June to mid-November. The Committee believed 3 Heavy Arctic Icebreakers; able to operate in Polar waters year-round would provide the CCG with the capacity to provide safe passage for marine traffic through Arctic water. In February 2007, Prime Minister Harper continued to profess his intent to improve the CF Arctic response capability. He expressed that "the first priority of national defence is to assert your sovereign presence on your territory, to be prepared to defend Canadians from threats of all kinds, whether they are major threats of invasion, or simply minor threats of unauthorized surveillance or potential unauthorized economic activity."44 Despite high capital costs, the Harper government believes “that Canadians are excited about the government asserting Canada's control and sovereignty in the Arctic. We believe that's one of the big reasons why Canadians are excited and support our plan to rebuild the Canadian Forces." To estimate cost, the new open ocean US Polar class USCGC Healy costing of 400 million US dollars (460 million dollars Canadian), provides a good benchmark. For ice-breaking in the inland waters of Canadian Arctic Archipelago, the cost would increase, 88 due to the thicker ice, stronger ship hull requirement. The Harper government estimated the cost for three icebreakers and the deep water port would be approximately 2 billion dollars. Initiatives by the Government including the intent to purchase an arctic icebreaker in 1970, again in 1985 with the $450 million Polar 8 icebreaker both fell victim due to a reassessment of priorities and lack of funding. Canada’s icebreaker fleet – which is in desperate need of upgrading – is in the hands of the Canadian Coast Guard, not the Canadian Navy. The skills to operate those icebreakers also rest with the Coast Guard. The Canadian Navy briefly operated HMCS Labrador from 1954 to 1957. That icebreaker was subsequently transferred to the Department of Transport and then to the Canadian Coast Guard in 1961. The Navy was then reduced to sending an occasional vessel into the Arctic during the short open water period in the summer. These deployments stopped in 1989. Joint Support Ship (JSS) Canadian soil is protected not by American generosity, but by American self-interest, which is more dependable. The US does not help Canada defend itself – it helps Canada to help defend the US. When the USSR developed its nuclear powered submarine force and began to deploy it into Arctic waters, there was no effort by the Canadian Government to meet this threat. Periodically the Government toyed with the idea of purchasing nuclear powered submarines. In 1965, the possibility was raised of buying a small number of American Skipjack submarines, but the idea was soon dropped. The most serious consideration was made in the middle 1980s when the Government stated its intention, in its 1987 White Paper, to buy/build up to 12 nuclear-powered submarines. However, because of the end of the Cold War and escalating costs, the programme was abandoned just as a decision was about to be made as to what design would be selected. In 1995 the two civilian fleets (Coast Guard and Department of Fisheries and Oceans) comprised a total in excess of 200 ships, which had been reduced to 110 by 2006. The Hudson, 45 years old, needs urgent replacement. A new coastal trawler is programmed for the East Coast of Canada for 2011, another for the West-Coast a few years later. New 40 meter long patrol vessels are currently under construction, to be followed by ice breakers. The new ice breakers, scheduled for 2011-2012 were being designed to be able to break ice at 16 knots. As of 2006 Canada operated 17 ice breakers, and in spite of global warming the need for ice breakers remained as much ice comes from the north. The Canadian Coastal Service has taken responsibility of these vessel with an annual budget of CAN$24M for refitting and CAN$25M for a vessel sustainability fund. http://naval.review.cfps.dal.ca/forum/view.php?topic=2 http://www.casr.ca/bg-icebreaker-aops.htm http://www.forces.gc.ca/admmat/aops-npea/home_accueil.asp Arctic Offshore Patrol Ship The Conservatives were elected with a workable minority on 23 January 2006. They elected 124 MPs, compared with 103 Liberals, 51 Bloc Québécois, 29 NDP and one (1) Independent. In less than two weeks, Mr. Stephen Harper was sworn in as Prime Minister. Mr. Gordon O’Connor was appointed Minister of Defence, notwithstanding his fairly recent activities as a lobbyist for actual or potential major defence contractors [one of O’Connor’s former private-sector clients was Airbus, which was trying to sell the government its A400M transport plane]. The electoral platform and policies of the new Government were based on the theme “Stand Up for Canada”. During the Election Campaign Mr. Harper had challenged the traditional US view that the Northwest Passage is international water and asserted Canadian sovereignty over same. He said that Canada, under his leadership, planned to bolster its claim for sovereignty by putting powerful new Canadian icebreakers on standby duty in and around the Northwest Passage and developing a deep-water port in Iqaluit. Canada has one large ice-breaker and five light-to-medium ice-breakers -- all aging. On 09 July 2007 Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Canada will build up to eight Arctic patrol vessels for $3.1 billion to reassert the country's northern sovereignty. Another $4.3 billion would be required for operations and maintenance over their lifespan. "Canada has a choice when it comes to defending our sovereignty in the Arctic -- either we use it or we lose it," said Harper. "And make no mistake, this government intends to use it, because Canada's Arctic is central to our identity as a northern nation. It is part of our history and it represents our tremendous potential of our future." Harper defended the vessels' ability, saying operating in one metre of ice "is a little more than a slush breaker." The patrol ships will be armed and have reinforced steel hulls that can sail in ice up to one meter thick. But they are not the full-fledged ice-breakers the Conservatives promised in the last election campaign. Much of the Arctic has ice thicker than one meter. While the ships would be able to patrol the length of the Northwest Passage, with a range of 6,000 nautical miles, they would only be able to do so in summer months. Harper said smaller ships were more versatile than the heavy icebreakers the government initially promised to buy, and there was little need to patrol inside the passage during winter, when heavy ice keeps foreign vessels away. Arctic Patrol Vessels capable of operations in First Year Ice is consistent with a series of recommendations made in a 2005 report by defence scientist Dr. Kyle Christensen. The 100-page report is entitled "Arctic Security and Defence: Canadian Northern Security Opportunities and Challenges (TR2005/01)." One of the report's many conclusions was that there is "no significant benefit for the Government to ... acquire platforms with a second year or multi-year ice capability." Such vessels are highly specialized for ice operations, which makes them far less suitable for a wide range of other functions. First Year Ice, which ranges in thickness between 30 cm and 120 cm, is considered the point at which a true icebreaking ship is required. Such a ship has a very different hull form and structure from that of warships and standard merchant vessels. This is the reason that the Joint Support Ship is rated for First Year Ice. On 13 May 2008 BMT Fleet Technology Limited was awarded the Definition, Engineering, Logistics and Management Support (DELMS) contract for the Canadian Arctic Offshore Patrol Ship (AOPS) project. The Canadian navy will acquire between six and eight ice-capable patrol ships to assert and enforce sovereignty in Canada's waters, including the Arctic. The ships will be gun-armed, have sophisticated sur- veillance and communications equipment and may carry a helicopter. AOPS will be able to operate in medium first year ice and sustain operations for up to 4 months. Under the DELMS contract, BMT will assist Canada's AOPS Program Management Office by exploring many technical and program issues during the Definition Phase of the project, and supporting the PMO during the Implementation Phase to deliver ships from 2013 to 2019. Much of the work during the Definition Phase (2008 - 2009) will be to develop an illustrative design [ie: a representative concept design] of the AOPS. The illustrative design will allow the PMO to refine and validate the ship specification and Statement of Work to be used to select the contractor for Project Implementation. The DELMS contract includes a defined Core Component worth approximately $4.5 million, and emergent tasks during the initial duration of 4 years could raise the total value to $13 million. The DELMS contract may be extended for up to an additional ten years and a total of over $18 million. BMT has assembled a team to cover the breadth of technical subjects required for AOPS DELMS. BMT's own strengths of ship design and arctic operations and its experience of supporting the Joint Support Ship PMO will be supplemented by Aker Yards Marine (AYM) and BAE Systems. AYM of Vancouver brings experience of design and construction of icebreakers patrol vessels, and will be a key re- source for the Definition work. BAE Systems of Glasgow, Scotland has also designed and built patrol vessels, and designs and integrates combat systems for numer- ous ship types. Other companies within the world-wide BMT Group will provide specialist skills as required. Calian of Ottawa will provide some key resources. The AOPS project builds on Aker Yards Marine Inc. (AYM)'s experience developing cost effective offshore patrol vessel designs for the Royal New Zealand Navy and the Irish Naval Service. AYM will be supported by the considerable expertise available within the Aker Yard Group in the design and construction of ice going vessels including the resources of Aker Arctic Technology in Helsinki, Finland and Aker Yards in Langsten, Norway. Aker Yards designed and built the Norwegian Coast Guard icebreaking offshore patrol vessel KV Svalbard which will be a valuable reference for the AOPS project. Svalbard was completed in 2002 and is reinforced for operations in ice. At 6,300 tons full load displacement and dimensions of 340.3' x 62.7' x 21.3', this robust vessel has a maximum speed of 17.5 knots, and the long endurance (10,000 nm at 13 knots) essential for operations in the far North. She operates a medium (Lynx or NH-90) helicopter and is fitted for firefighting and counter-pollution work. As the Norwegian CG is a part of their navy, Svalbard is armed (1 Bofors 57-mm gun). Her cost is reported to be $90 Million (US), plus weapons and sensors. With the contract award for AOPS DELMS came the release of conceptual artwork for the project. Many differences are apparent from Svalbard – the most obvious are the larger forecastle deck, enclosed mast, and the aft-situated funnels and landing deck. In 1958 the Canadian Navy had one ice breaking vessel HMCS Labrador. The Canadian Navy loaned the vessel to the Canadian Coast Guard because they could see no reason to have such a vessel. The Coast Guard had similar capable vessels engaged in ice breaking in support of northern supply. John G. Diefenbaker The Canadian Coast Guard’s most capable icebreaker, the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent, is scheduled to be decommissioned in 2017. As such, the Government will replace this vessel with a new polar class icebreaker that has even greater icebreaking capabilities than the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent. Designing and building a massive Polar class icebreaker is a major national project. The John G. Diefenbaker is expected to take 8-10 years to design and build and carries a price-tag of $720 million. The polar icebreaker will be approximately 140 meters in length and capable of sustained operations in the Arctic Archipelago over three seasons per year in very difficult ice conditions. (e.g., the ability to continuously break ice up to 2.5 meters thick). It will carry a crew of approximately 60 with accommodations for an additional 50 people. The polar icebreaker will also be able to accommodate a helicopter when required and has large cargo carrying capacity. For comparison, the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent is able to operate two seasons, can continuously break ice up to 1.3 meters thick and has a crew of 44. The CCGS JOHN G. DIEFENBAKER will: project a visible presence nine months a year throughout the Arctic portion of Canada’s Economic Exclusive Zone; promote Arctic science, by providing a platform for the conduct of multi-agency, multi-disciplinary scientific and engineering research and development on behalf of Fisheries and Oceans and other government departments and agencies; collect weather and ice information through the measurement, monitoring and reporting of weather and ice conditions in all areas of operational interest; and contribute to continued Northern economic and commercial development. The Canadian Coast Guard has a ship naming policy, which presents a consistent and logical approach to naming CCG vessels. The objective of the policy is to select names that promote Canadian sovereignty, culture, geography and history. It is also intended to raise the profile of vessels and the work they do by honouring and celebrating people and places of regional and national significance. Vessel names are brief and easily understood by radiotelephone and other means of communication. The Coast Guard is still at the preliminary design stage for the acquisition of the polar class icebreaker. A "Request for Proposal" to undertake detailed design would likely be ready by late 2010. http://www.aosb.org/mtgs/2008/Korean%20Report%20on%20Araon.ppt#6