Sideways Rock and Roll Ice Crusher

This has got to be slow and likely slower than those two ice breakers.  I think that until we produce a 500,000 ton nuclear powered hovercraft to do this job, it will remain a very expensive proposition.  A hovercraft will lift the ice causing it to literally be crushed.  Probably still slow enough but still awesomely efficient.

At least this design does allow a much larger version to make real headway in the face of seriously thick ice.  Thus we have a natural breaker design that can even tackle ridges otherwise impassable.  Working in conjunction with the above mentioned nuclear hovercraft cum ice breaker and it should be possible to sustain Arctic shipping..

It also works well with conventional ice breakers for exactly the same reason.  They can get up on top of serious ridges and break them up.

How a New Russian Icebreaker Slices Sideways Through Frozen Sea

BY BIZ CARSON

1:40 PM

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2014/01/icebreaker/

The Baltika isn’t adrift—it’s breaking ice. Debuting in the Gulf of Finland in early 2014, the Russian-owned ship will be the first to travel sideways through the frozen stuff. Although smaller than a normal icebreaker, its oblique angle of attack lets it carve a larger path—wide enough for commercial ships to follow. “You would conventionally need two icebreakers to make the same channel,” project manager Mika Willberg says. The vessel can even help with oil spills: The unique hull guides oily water into a hatch, where a skimmer tank separates the oil from the water. The Baltika can crack through ice about 2 feet thick, which makes it suitable for conditions in the Baltic Sea. The ship’s patent holder, Aker Arctic, has a larger ship in the works to cut trade routes through heavier Arctic ice.

Ballast Inside, water and fuel are pumped between tanks so the ship doesn’t roll over.

Roll and Crush Instead of smashing ice head-on, the angled hull lets the ship roll over the ice and use its weight to do the cracking.

Propulsion Three 360-degree thrusters let the ship navigate sideways to attack the ice at a 30-degree angle. Wide SwathThe Baltika cuts a 160-foot path through ice, allowing tankers to follow in its wake.