Ice Free Berths for Loading Ships in the Arctic

We suggest that the buoyancy forces on fresh water at the surface of the sea or immediately below the surface of the ice permit the use of this fresh water as an efficient means of transferring heat energy to the sea-ice, to melt it or to prevent its formation. The source of the necessary heat may be found in the lower levels of fresh water lakes, in waste heat from industrial processes or in the combustion of fuel in a heater. The design of a plant to carry out this process presents no new problems to the engineer and the system may be made self-regulating while retaining flexibility to the special conditions or constraints of an operation. The installations costs will vary widely with local conditions but should be at least one order of magnitude less than those involved in building an oil loading facility offshore.