Improvement in Technology on Icebreaker's Performance

Developments of natural resources in the Arctic region are becoming active in the recent years. Commercial use of the northern sea route is taking on realness with a decrease of sea ice area along the Arctic coast. Also Arctic and Antarctic observation is important to clarify a global climatic change. Icebreakers are indispensable to the support for the development, the escort for cargo ships and the polar observation in ice-covered waters. The technology on icebreaker's performance is improving steadily, responding to those missions. This paper shows the typical characteristics of icebreaker and introduces several technologies to improve the performance.