STATION-KEEPING TRIALS IN ICE: OVERVIEW OF ICE MANAGEMENT SUPPORT

In March 2017, Statoil performed station-keeping trials in drifting ice in the Bay of Bothnia. The anchor handling tug supply vessel Magne Viking, performed station keeping operations in various ice conditions, including managed and non-managed ice. Physical ice management was used to manage the approaching ice to a target condition suitable for the station keeping tests, and to enable other essential operations including deployment and retrieval of the mooring spread and other equipment. Given the objective of the trials, physical ice management activities were performed in such a way to allow investigation of various relevant parameters that influence the managed ice condition. Additional tests were also performed for the sole purpose to assist with validation of Aker Arctic's ice management software "AIMS", including tests designed to estimate the performance of the vessels under different ice conditions. This paper focuses on the physical ice management operations performed by the ice management vessel Tor Viking (TV) during the Station Keeping Trials in ice (SKT). Also included is a discussion on how AIMS was used in the planning phase and how simulations compared with actual observations.