ICEBREAKING AND OPEN WATER PERFORMANCE PREDICTION OF THE NEW UNOLS/NSF ARCTIC RESEARCH VESSEL

A new Arctic research vessel for the US will be required to support science missions in the Arctic well into the next century. The vessel is being designed primarily as an ice-breaking research vessel with modest open water capability. This paper describes the icebreaking and open water criteria established for the vessel; the development of a hull form to meet that criteria; and the subsequent analysis and model testing program used to verify performance predictions for the vessel.