Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding Company Limited

Steven M Lord

Hiroshi Tabuchi

The disclosed method for increasing the maneuverability of a ship in ice-covered waters is comprised of bringing generally vertical ice-crushing surfaces on one side of a ship into contact with an ice covering in order to create an imbalance of forces between that side of the ship and the ice covering in comparison with the forces between the other side of the ship and the ice covering in order to assist in turning the ship. The generally vertical ice-crushing surfaces are positioned on both a starboard and port side of the hull of the ship in such a manner that they remain out of contact with the ice covering normal straight forward travel. A particular positioning mechanism is utilized in order to bring a generally vertically oriented ice-crushing wall portion into contact with the ice covering. Contact between the generally vertically oriented ice-crushing wall portion and the ice creates a crushing force between the two surfaces, while the other side of the ship contacts the ice at a different angle applying a bending force to the ice covering. The different forces applied to the sides of the ship create a horizontal force inbalance which forces the ship away from the side where the ice-crushing forces are created between the ice and the generally vertically oriented wall portions, thus turning the ship away from that side.

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Stoneham, MA, United States of America

Steven M Lord