SAFEWIN

SAFETY OF WINTER NAVIGATION IN DYNAMIC ICE

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'The present projectaims to develope – an efficient ice compression and ice dynamics forecasting system – which is precisely aimed in increasing the safety of winter navigation in dynamic ice conditions. This system is particularly efficient in case of large, AFRAMAX size or larger, oil tankers navigating in the Baltic, Okhotsk Sea and also in the western Russian Arctic. These tankers include a large parallel midbody and a hull form that is not especially suitable for ice breaking. A hull rupture of these tankers in compressive ice would lead to catastrophic consequences in the Baltic. Further, the Baltic icebreaking system including the ice services are now responding to the increased tanker traffic to and from the Russian terminals in the eastern Baltic. Similar change is likely to occur in the Okhotsk Sea, Russian western Arctic and possibly also in the White Sea. In developing ice service products applicable in these new sea areas, the present project contributes towards topics safety of ice navigation. Finally, it has been the observation of the Finnish and Swedish icebreaker services that the crews of the ice strengthened vessels do not have the necessary experience for winter navigation. The Baltic Icebreaker Management (BIM, see www.baltice.org) is making every effort to increase the awareness for winter operations and ice conditions – also awareness about the ice service products. A timely, easily comprehended, standardized and homogenized operational advice and ice navigation in a form of ice charts and ice forecasts will reduce the risk of human error in interpreting ice conditions and selecting a route through ice. Project also aims to understand the effect of ship structures onto risk of compressive ice damages. This knowledge will used then to redesign some part of the structure so to achieve the best possible damage resistance with reduction in structural weight.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Dynamic ice and compressive ice forces are two of the most important hazards that ships face when navigating in ice. An EU-funded project developed a forecasting system for better route planning and thus enhanced ship safety.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Backed with EU funding, the 'Safety of winter navigation in dynamic ice' (SAFEWIN) project is dedicated to developing an efficient ice compression and ice dynamics forecasting system that will be particularly appropriate for conditions in the Baltic Sea, the Okhotsk Sea and the western Russian Arctic. The biggest damage to ship structure occurs in moving ice cover, where large compressive forces can act on the ship hull and possibly even lead to hull rupture. As such, a better understanding of the behaviour of ships in this kind of ice is required, and ships are in need of a warning for nearby compressive regions.

Project work commenced with intensive observations initially focused on the Gulf of Finland, and then the Bothnian Bay. To date, observations have also been carried out in the Gulf of Riga. Visual observations of sea ice compression were made on board icebreakers and merchant vessels, and ice cover movements were studied with drift buoys, satellite images and captured radar images. SAFEWIN partners conducted two winter field campaigns, producing measurements such as ice motion detection, ice thickness and ice pressure. These were very successful in terms of outlining severe compression events that can seriously disrupt shipping operations.

Other actions have succeeded in improving on ice models - ice compression has been added to these as a new prognostic variable. In addition, first hind cast simulations, including ice stresses, have been performed.

SAFEWIN efforts allowed development of an operative forecasting system for dynamic and especially compressive ice. The forecasting system includes a description of the compression (magnitude and direction) in terms of quantities that can be applied in ship operations. The system is integrated into the existing IBnet system, a distributed traffic information system for icebreakers and will operate as a decision support tool for ice navigation. This may have a large impact on the probability of ships getting stuck in ice and thus decrease the risks remarkably.

The use of such forecasts and systems will help merchant vessels better plan their routes for maximum safety, and assisting icebreakers will be able to determine waypoints for merchant ship routes on the basis of the safest and most efficient passage of ships.