Risk-based Winterization on a North Atlantic-based Ferry Design

The Arctic is a recent focal point of the marine and offshore industries. Winterization is required for safe and efficient operations in these harsh cold environments. A risk-based approach to winterization was recently proposed to provide a quantitative way of determining the need for winterization and its appropriate level. To further validate and enhance this approach, it has been applied to a new ice-class passenger ferry design, which will operate in a particular area of the North Atlantic. This location is ideal for the application with low temperatures, strong wind, and high waves. To facilitate this application and eliminate some limitations of the proposed approach, this article proposes a generic framework of risk-based winterization. Results from this article validated the effectiveness and feasibility of using risk-based winterization on vessel designs.