A long-term research project on the winter navigation system in the Baltic was initiated by Helsinki University of Technology and the Finnish Board of Navigation in 1990. The aim of the project is to define and study the factors affecting the ice navigation capability of a merchant ship on the basis of full scale observations onboard ice navigating vessels. This report presents the results of the observation program in winter 1999. The winter 1999 was somewhat milder than an average winter. The Gulf of Bothnia froze completely in the end of January but the Bay of Bothnia was not totally ice covered. The ice cover in the Gulf of Bothnia was heavily ridged but the ice thickness at sea was only about 50 cm. The shorefast ice became about 80 cm thick. Observers took part in four voyages onboard three vessels during the winter 1999. Onboard the vessels the observers made notes on ice navigation practices, ice conditions, icebreakers assistance, etc. The position, speed, and course of the vessels were measured with a GPS navigator and stored automatically to a PC memory every six seconds.


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    Title :

    Performance of Ice-Navigating Ships in the Northern Baltic in Winter 1999


    Contributors:
    M. Miinala (author) / M. Patey (author)

    Publication date :

    2000


    Size :

    80 pages



    Type of media :

    Report


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English