How Does an Icebreaker Actually Break the Ice?

While most of us would prefer our boating to be done in warm and sunny weather, it turns out that not every vessel is designed to do that. Instead, even in areas where the water is covered with a thick sheet of ice, aquatic vessels need to travel and as it also turns out, some pretty smart people came up with a way to do that safely.

While something like a cargo ship clad in steel might seem like a suitable vessel to just slash through some ice, it can actually be pretty damaging to the ship. In fact, if you’re going through ice in anything besides a vessel that’s designed to be able to handle it, chances are that you’re going to have a pretty bad time.

Fortunately, there are vessels that are designed precisely with breaking ice in mind. These sorts of ships lead the way for other ships that have reinforced hulls to be able to slide their way through the ice without having to worry about taking on damage.

So, what is it about a vessel that is designed to break ice that makes it different than anything else? Well, as it turns out, it’s mostly about the design of the hull that allows the vessel to approach the ice in a different way, using its weight to its advantage as it uses leverage to come through the top of the ice instead of the side.

By following along with the video below, we get the complete rundown of how exactly a vessel like this goes to work. We have to say that this is just another impressive design that leaves us in awe of how engineers operate. The fact that someone was able to get to the bottom of this equation effectively is simply astounding.