Abstract
The problem of ship routing has been bothering scientists for decades. With the opening of Arctic sea routes, ship routing through ice-prone waters is becoming increasingly important, not only for energy efficiency but also for the safety of ships sailing in such harsh environments. This paper presents elements of the ship route optimization approaches and highlights and discusses persistent technical and fundamental bottlenecks in ship route planning and optimization in the Arctic. It is a combined view from the perspectives of ship hydrodynamics and sea ice transits. A route planning and optimization model requires reliable engine power prediction, which is challenging for voyages through ice due to a mismatch between available ice information/forecast, the input needed by route optimization models, and the assumed operational practices, mainly concerning complex states of the sea ice cover, safe speeds, and the crew’s skill level. Ship-routing-through-ice models are often considered in isolation from conventional weather routing solutions, while the weather routing solutions often treat the sea ice cover as an untraversable area. In ice-free waters, some of the fundamental hydrodynamic and operational challenges have been addressed through the employment of in-service observations via onboard sensors in addition to metocean wind and wave forecasts, and also through consideration of other factors such as slamming, green water on deck, and cargo safety. In this view, the current paper reviews the available ice forecast data, the scope of using onboard sensors, the importance of other environmental loads, and uncertainty in (and observability of) the parameters used for ship route planning and optimization in ice-prone waters while focusing on Arctic shipping.