ICE INDUCED RESISTANCE OF SHIP HULLS

The global warming and exploration of the hydrocarbons that is carried out in the Arctic region results in the constantly increasing maritime activity in iced waters. Nowadays, it is possible to predict if a ship will be capable of surviving an encounter with the ice of a particular given thickness; however such knowledge will not be enough to accurately predict the associated increase of the fuel costs.

In the present thesis the investigation of the validity of the analytical formulations for the ice resistance in the above mentioned geographical region has been performed. Subject formulations have been based on the trials in the Swedish-Finnish waters having lower salinity and relatively warm climate in comparison to the ones of the Arctic waters. This has been conducted by comparing the ship resistance that is estimated on the basis of the information obtained from the onboard measurements of the ship's speed and thickness of the ice as well as the engine power with the estimates received from the analytical formulations.

The topic addressed in this book is very challenging and rewarding. The thesis starts with the introduction followed by the description of the characteristics of the sea ice, models used for the calculation of the ice induced hull resistance, open-water resistance, analysis of the relevant statistical data, and many other important aspects.