Navigation in cold environments

Polar areas are being increasingly used by passenger ships on scheduled cruises. The Arctic ice has receded, allowing navigation to take place ‘north about’, from Europe to Asia and the USA.

Considering challenges that arise for navigators in cold environments, this course explains how sea ice is formed, describing the various types of ice found at sea. As well as investigating how vessels are classed and strengthened for navigation in ice-infested waters, it gives further information on how to navigate and maneuver when ice is in the vicinity.

This course is relevant to any vessel that trades above latitude 60 degrees (from Polar Code definition of polar areas), and particularly those that trade in ice areas, which include the Baltic and Great Lakes.

Learning objectives:

• State how ice forms on land and recognize the environmental conditions that cause sea ice to form
• State the variations in towage assistance available whilst in ice in different parts of the world
• Recognize how an ice breaker works to support vessels and how to communicate effectively with various ice breakers around the world
• Know about ice class vessels and prepare own-ship for entering ice infested waters
• Recognize the basic rules of ship handling when working in different types of ice and know which types of ice should not be entered
• Set a safe speed in ice infested waters and be able to safely sail in a convoy along a broken channel in ice