How to Beat the Arctic: Polar Class Icebreakers

[@eherrmann01]

I actually helped build the Healy (WAGB-20). At the time, I was working in the plate shop at the shipyard, where we cut and formed all the steel plates that make up the ship. Good times.

[@float32]

How thick was the steel?

[@eherrmann01]

@@float32 It varied depending on where on the ship it was. Some of the plates that I cut were 4" thick, which would be used in the bow area. other, non critical areas would have 3/8-1/2" plates.

[@weatheranddarkness]

@@eherrmann01 I've always wondered how the really thick stuff gets formed, the like 4" and up material must be nearly as strong as most tools at some point.

[@eherrmann01]

@@weatheranddarkness To form the plates they use extremely large press brakes and pinch rollers after the steel has been cut to the correct size and shape. I ran the CNC machines that used either oxy-acetylene or plasma torches, depending on the thickness of the material, then we sent the cut pieces to the other end of the shop where they were formed.

[@lamarrrrr]

I love your videos, nothing else fuels my fantasies about bulding a self-sufficient sailboat to live and chill in those conditions, like these videos!

[@bernardkealey6449]

USCG has been trying for decades to get money for a new (fleet of, or at least a single) Polar class ice breaker. Russia has had so much trouble getting funding to maintain theirs that they offer really really cool cruises over the Pole on them. Which in a more ideal world I’d leap at the opportunity (even if not nearly as interesting and diverse a trip as the North East Passage trips occasionally offered).

[@float32]

Oof, around $33k USD for 13 days. It’s interesting there’s more staff than guests!

[@bernardkealey6449]

@@float32 that’s on par with Antarctic expedition cruises - which don’t have nuclear powered banya!

[@JennySusanti-u1q]

Great video

[@gafrers]

Quality explanations as always. Nuclear Ice breakers are Even more fascinating than "standard" ice breaker.

[@kevgermany]

Interesting. Thanks. Typo - slide 11, heating. One size should be one side.

[@shaider1982]

I read an old Pop Mech magazine (late 1980's, I think) years ago where the Soviet nuke icebreakers helped save whales stranded in alaska.

[@caseydamiano269]

A point of nomenclature: for Naval (ie: USCG) and Navy vessels, a "class" refers to a single design. Hence, "Polar Class" specifically means either USCGC POLAR STAR or the ex-USCGC POLAR SEA (both rated at 70,000hp/51.5Kw). The medium-duty, ice-breaking research vessel HEALY is not a "Polar Class," capable though she is.

[@bernardkealey6449]

Commercial classifications as originated by Baltic Exchange et al and adopted by Lloyds etc for ships designed for operation in high latitudes (Ice Class A* thru Ice Class D) have recently been totally overhauled and replaced by “Polar Class” - so there’s competing nomenclature …

[@user-Rocket-Fest]

Ice breakers serve to keep sea lanes open so goods can be traded Clue me up, who trades at the Norff Pole other than Santa and Elmo the clown??

[@DatawaveMarineSolutions]

Actually, the northwest passage (northern section of Canada) and the Northern Russian coast are both becoming critical routes for future sea transport. We aren't delivering anything to the arctic (normally). We are going THROUGH the arctic to get around the massive continents that someone put in the way. Previously, these routes were completely impassable. But with global climate change, winter temperatures rise, the ice melts more. And now, an icebreaker can clear a path through these routes. They aren't passable all year long. Not yet. But those routes save a lot of time and a lot of fuel. On top of that, there are many oil deposits in those northern regions. But you can't extract the oil if you can't get a ship up there. So arctic icebreakers are not about delivering to permanently frozen places. (Not normally). They are about gaining the ability to exploit the natural resources and geographic advantages within those polar regions.

[@user-Rocket-Fest]

@@DatawaveMarineSolutions sucking crude thru freezing cold waters will be a huge challenge. Those pipes will have to be lagged some how. 3500M ave depths??