How to select a suitable ice class – a discussion on goal- and risk-based design of polar ships
Authors: Fang Li
Journal: Aurora: A Journal of Contemporary Science
Year: 2026
Abstract
Global warming has led to significant changes in the Arctic ice environment during the past decades, resulting in high expectations for future polar shipping. Ships going through ice-covered water need to strengthen their structure to resist ice loading. Nonetheless, over-strengthening can result in excessive lightweight and hamper the profitability of the operation. How to select the most suitable ice class is usually a primary question of ship owners, and is also the starting point of polar ship design. The current rule-based design methodology of polar ships has several limitations that may restrain the feasibility of more efficient and flexible designs. Goal- and risk-based design has emerged as an alternative due to its bespoke features and better adaptability to the mission of ships. Moreover, goal- and risk-based design can incorporate limit state design methodology, which can effectively integrate the random nature of ice loads with the extent of structure damage. To date, some gaps exist before the actual use of this new approach. This paper aims to present an overview of goal- and risk-based design approach in comparison to rule-based design, and make a discussion on the way ahead to turn this from concept to practice.
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Citation
Li, F. (2026) “How to select a suitable ice class – a discussion on goal- and risk-based design of polar ships”, Aurora: A Journal of Contemporary Science, p. 3.
doi: 10.5281/zenodo.20200071
Article Information
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20200071
• Volume: TBD
• Published: 15 May 2026
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
• Keywords: icegoing ships, icebreaking, polar ships, POLARIS, Arctic.
• Availability: Open Access
ISSN 3087-5706 (Online)
