Polar Research Ships
The world fleet of ice-worthy research ships and icebreakers numbers about 160. A third of these vessels belong to the Soviet Union, and 25 of those ships are dedicated to research. In the polar ship hierarchy, Canada ranks next to the U.S.S.R. with 12 research vessels, then comes Finland. The United States ranks a lowly fifth, just behind Sweden.
However, the United States leads in other categories. It is the only major nation fronting on the northern polar seas to own but a single ice-worthy research ship. Furthermore, that ship, the Hero, is the world's smallest working ice-strengthened research vessel. The mighty Hero is 125 feet long and weighs in at 640 tons.
By comparison, the Soviet nuclear-powered icebreaker Sibir is 492 feet long and weighs 23,400 tons. In terms of displacement, 36 Heros would equal one Sibir, and the Sibir is just one of many icebreakers in the Soviet polar fleet. (Sibir cruised to the North Pole in 1977, a feat long considered impossible.)
Several years ago 7 Dr. Robert Elsner of the University of Alaska's Institute of Marine Science became concerned over the United States' lack of ships for polar research. He teamed up with Dr. Donald Hood, then the marine institute's director, to do something about it.
Initially, the two scientists had difficulty convincing people in government that the Alaskan group had the expertise to proceed. Finally in 1976, Dr. Elsner received funds from the National Science Foundation to go ahead with the conceptual design of an ice-strengthened research ship.
Since then, the federal research foundation has provided nearly a half-million dollars to the University of Alaska and its subcontractors for the design and model-testing of a modern polar research ship. The vessel now designed is 246 feet long and weighs 3,000 tons. Its shape and its diesel-electric twin-screw propulsion system allow it to break seasonal sea ice going forwards and backwards. When worst comes to worst, the variable pitch propellors are capable of carving up vast sheets of ice into ice cubes.
If built, the 20 million dollar research ship could safely operate in the Bering Sea all year and along the north coast of Alaska and Canada three months each year.
