| Abstract | This report provides an update on the work being carried out by the Canadian Hydraulics Centre of the NRC, to put the Arctic Ice Regime Shipping System (AIRSS) on a scientific basis. Although the project is not complete, significant progress has been made towards its intended goal. This report is meant to highlight the progress, and to lead to a focused discussion in the marine community on the final form for the ice regime system. The process of putting the ice regime system on a scientific basis involves a systematic approach using empirical data in a pragmatic format. The report provides details of vessel damage, and shows the agreement of the current definition of the Ice Numeral with available full-scale data. It has been found that although the system reasonably well reflects the observations, there are numerous instances where the agreement is poor. An advanced scheme has been proposed which takes into account the “interaction” aspects of vessels in ice-covered waters. Using this approach, a significant improvement in the definition of the ice numeral can be achieved. This approach further “rewards” high ice class vessels with experienced Ice Navigators operating in a prudent manner, and still “penalizes” low ice class vessels, especially in the presence of multi-year ice. |
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