MV Arctic Vessel Performance and Trafficability Program

Ice, environmental and navigation information has been collected on board the MV ARCTIC by dedicated observers, for all voyages north of 60 degrees north latitude since 1983. These data reside on the Interactive Data Input, Analysis and Display System (IDIADS), user friendly micro-computer based work station developed in 1986/87 to manage the growing data base relating navigational information to environmental information for Canadian arctic waters. IDIADS is intended to provide a detailed record of ice/vessel interactions to management and operations personnel for strategic planning based on various ice intelligence sources, for voyage planning exercises, and for assessing the economics of entry into selected ports of call at various times of the year. To date, the system has been used extensively for historical analysis of data and in a simulated tactical navigation exercise.