Ice Operations Support 

Offshore petroleum Site Activities

Canatec provides route planning and operational support for:

• Offshore petroleum site development
• Navigation in Arctic waters
• Navigation in Antarctic waters for Tourism Operators.

Support is provided by an integrated team (satellite image analyst, ice conditions adviser, ice pilot and data delivery coordinator). The ice conditions adviser provides key data to the ice pilot on a 24/7 basis. Remote monitoring is carried out from the Canatec operations centre in Calgary and is based on real-time satellite image data, weather data, and other information relevant to the individual project. For on-site support projects, Canatec ice conditions advisors and ice pilots are stationed in the area of operational need and are so able to deal face-to-face with the project decision makers.

Monitoring and Forecasting services are often provided separately as some clients require the one and not the other. Monitoring products include annotated satellite images of operations areas and ice charts based on satellite imagery and on-site observations. Forecast products include 48hour advance estimates of ice feature locations and ice movement patterns.

Canatec provides an integrated set of services that will ensure offshore seismic, drilling and construction programs in ice-infested waters benefit from: earliest possible start date and latest end date; minimum downtime; maximum security to equipment and safety to personnel.

Our ice operations support, based on our involvement with these projects around the world since the early 1970s involves an integrated suite of services, which may be customized according to the client's needs:

• Preparation of an Ice Operations Manual
• Review of Operational expectations based on previous years
• Analysis and support of transit to and from the operations site
• Building the Ice Team from the client's staff and integrating them with our own project group (Ice Advisors, Satellite image analysts, Ice Pilots, Weather forecasting services and Ice Observers). Usually Canate provides all but the Ice Observers, and trains the client's staff and marine officers in this function.
• Training of Engineering/science staff and Marine Officers as Ice Observers
• Acquisition, analysis and transmission of satellite images to the Ice Observers
• Weather Forecasting
• Ice Observation on board ship or platform during project operations or transit
• Ice advising on conditions, forecasts and drifts to support the Ice Observer
• Wrapup report.

Kulluk Drill Barge & Icebreaker, Beaufort Sea

Navigation in Arctic Waters

As the Arctic warms up, ship traffic has increased in this zone. Commercial shipping is not the only marine activity to increase; coast guard involvement is also required and naval activity is growing. Already the Russian side is fairly open during summer months for navigation. The Canadian side still has very difficult ice conditions, which in some parts have become even more severe than before. Ice conditions are and will remain for many decades, complex and dangerous to ships. Canatec assists clients with route planning, training officers in ice observation, forecasts of local ice conditions and provision of ice data from satellite images on a 24/7 basis.

Planning Ship Route through Ice

Marine Tourism in Antarctica

Ship-based tourism in Antarctica has increased dramatically over the past decade. Regulations, training, data  and instrumentation have not kept pace. There have been an increasing number of serious incidents involving tourism vessels beset in ice and on tragic sinking due to collision with ice. Canatec is adapting its integrated suite of services used for arctic navigation support, for use in Antarctica, oriented specifically towards the tourism industry. As most of the vessels sail from Ushuaia and Punta Arenas, we are building a team of experts and data sources from Chile and Argentina to support this market.

The Explorer sinking after hitting ice.