Comparison Study on the Resistance Characteristics of an Arctic Tanker and a General Tanker

The hull form of icebreaking tanker depends on the trade route and ice characteristic. The hull form has to be designed for icebreaking concept if the vessel is operating in heavy ice and also the hull from has to be optimized for general tanker when the ship is operating in ice-free ocean. This paper presents comparison of ship resistance in pack ice, level ice and open water. Four ships are used to compare the resistance characteristic. One is conventional tanker and three ships are icebreaking tankers. The ice model test was carried out at the IOT (Institute for Ocean Technology, Newfoundland, Canada) and open water test was performed at 55MB (Samsung Ship Model Basin). The ice resistance of conventional tanker was predicted by Colbourne's method. The resistance of open water, pack ice and level ice are compared and discussed. The best hull form of icebreaker is not good in open water performance compare to conventional tanker. This result explains that the hull form of icebreaker and normal tanker have to compromise when the ship is operated in ice and ice-free condition. The result of this paper gives a guide for icebreaking tanker design.