First Guideline for Arctic Marine Risk Assessment released

July 28, 2020 The Arctic Council’s Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response Working Group has released its first Guideline for Arctic Marine Risk Assessment. It is the most comprehensive guide on Arctic navigation yet.

Credit: Wanderlust

Sailing in Arctic is anything but easy. Low temperatures, long spans of darkness, icebergs and unpredictable weather conditions require careful planning and seamless communication. On top of that, Arctic shipping is gaining in popularity. Between 2013 and 2019, vessel traffic rates have increased by 25%, vessel sail distance has increased by 75% in the last six years. 

Wärtsilä Voyage is working to raise efficiencies, lower operational costs, and reduce the environmental impact. The navigational systems and decision support tools delivered by Wärtsilä Voyage for Arctic LNG-2 project, enhance safety and reliability of shipping operations in the Arctic. 

Under the contract two equivalent bridges will be placed in vessels’ superstructure; one of them is turned 180 degrees from the conventional position. This unique construction will allow icebreakers to move both forward and aft, thus ensuring safe vessels navigation in the ice waters. 

Both navigation bridges will be equipped with the Multifunction Display system consisting of 12 multifunction workstations with a full set of basic applications, including ECDIS, Radar, Conning navigation information display system, BAMS alarm tracking system, and Navi-Planner for advanced route planning. 

All the navigational systems are ready for integration with Wärtsilä Fleet Operations Solution (FOS) - the first solution that puts previously fragmented services under one platform to lift ship-to-shore synergies and improve operational processes.

Wärtsilä also offers planning and training solutions for voyage in ice covered areas. NTPRO 5000 navigational simulator enables navigation training in cold weather conditions and/or in ice-infested areas. It allows practicing various port operations in ice-infested ports, piloting vessel, ice risk assessment, learning to analyse received weather and ice-information etc. 

Written by

Wärtsilä