to mariners. Seafarers with ice navigation expertise
therefore continue to be a necessity for safe polar opera-tions.
The Arctic region is globally recognised as an environ-mentally
sensitive area, yet the region is witnessing an
increased interest in the viability of shorter transit routes
– as recently demonstrated by Venta Maersk, the first
containership to complete a passage through the Northern
Sea Route (NSR).
It is therefore reasonable to expect that the next half
century will see a gradual growth in shipping traffic in the
NSR, the North West Passage and subsequently the
Trans-Polar Route. Both all-year and seasonal ice mari-time
operations will continue to present significant safety
and environmental risks.
” Many respondents remarked on the
importance of the ability to recognise different
types of ice and to interpret ice conditions.”
Despite these developments, there has been very little
focused industry or academic research into the role of ice
navigators in providing safe navigation in ice-covered
waters. The idea for my master’s degree research emerged
from reading numerous articles on polar ship operations,
but encountering very little in the way of in-depth reports
on the skills and experience of ice navigators.
I wanted to explore this gap, against the background of
a rapidly changing technological environment. The
research drew upon three strands: deck officer skills and
58 SUOMEN MERENKULKU J FINLANDS SJÖFART
experience set against the recent implementation of the
IMO Polar Code; the human element; and current and
emergent technological aspects of ice-covered maritime
operations.
The study identified key points and themes around ice
navigators’ opinions of the IMO Polar Code, mentoring,
simulator training, advances in technology, navigational
systems and supporting infrastructure.
Central to the research was a survey completed by 48
deck officers – 82% of whom were ice navigators and 22%
ice pilots. Their seagoing service included merchant
vessels, icebreakers, research ships and naval ships, and
88% had regular multi-season experience of working in
ice-covered vessels.
Although the main geographical ice navigation areas
were centred around the Canadian Arctic, Baltic and
Greenland, most participants bore out the highly mobile
and diverse nature of ice navigation – with operational
experience gained globally in the Arctic, Antarctic and
Baltic Sea regions.
A key finding was the role of experiential knowledge in
the development of ice navigation skills, with 91% consid-ering
on-the-job training and mentoring to be not only very
important but also highly influential in the development of
core skills.
Conversely, concern over inexperienced ice navigators
also featured highly in survey comments.
More than 60% of the participants had received IMO
Polar Code training, and 89% viewed the implementation
of the current mandatory Polar Code two-tiered SOLAS
training requirements in a generally positive manner.
However, the omission of actual practical in-ice