EVOLUTION OF ICE RESEARCH FOR OFFSHORE PACK ICE OPERATIONS

A great deal has been learned about how to operate in the moving pack ice since 1975, and a number of concepts have been developed which permit (Dome) to extend our drilling season, using drillships in the ice. These concepts include: a shorefast ice drilling system, application of coal dust and icecutting to permit the ships to break out of a winter harbour through five to six feet of ice, icebreaking operations which permit the drillships to drill in newly-forming ice in the moving pack ice up to 24 inches thick. New concepts are being developed to permit exploratory drilling operations and production operations year-round in the pack ice. These include: a turret-moored drilling system capable of operating in up to 90 feet first-year pressure ridges, bottom-founded monocones and caisson structures. We have also designed an icebreaker with novel icebreaking features as a prototype to larger icebreaking vessels and year-round Arctic Class 10 tankers. The Beaufort Sea places an additional requirement for research in the areas of: establishing ice and sea bottom design criteria; structural design for Arctic conditions; and a number of support facilities such as navigation, ice prediction systems, and oilspill countermeasure systems. (Author)

• Supplemental Notes:
  • POAC 79, Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Port and Ocean Engineering under Arctic Conditions, Trondheim, Norway, 13-17 August 1979.
• Corporate Authors:

  Norwegian Institute of Technology

  N-7034 Trondheim,   Norway 
• Authors:
  • O'Rourke, J C
• Conference:
  • POAC 79, Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Port and Ocean Engineering under Arctic Conditions.
  • Location: Trondheim , Norway
  • Date: 1979-8-13 to 1979-8-17
• Publication Date: 1980

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 441-495

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Drilling; Drilling ships; Freight transportation; Icebreakers; Offshore drilling platforms; Offshore oil industry; Oil spills; Operations; Pack ice; Pipeline transportation; Structural design; Tankers; Vehicle design
• Geographic Terms: Arctic Regions
• Old TRIS Terms: Arctic drilling; Arctic oil transportation; Arctic operations
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Design; Freight Transportation; Marine Transportation; Pipelines;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00331688
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Arctic Science and Technology Information System
• Report/Paper Numbers: Volume 3 Conf Proc
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jun 12 1981 12:00AM