2013 年 27 巻 1 号 p. 11-17
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.
