Optimization of the ship route in ice-covered waters improves the efficiency and safety of navigation in the Arctic. This article describes a new wave-based approach for ice routing of a ship. Unlike grid-based approaches, which use a predefined grid to describe possible ship movements, the proposed algorithm is cell-free and extends the method of isochrones. All calculations of isochrone propagation are done using geo-algorithms and operations with geo-polygons. This allows us to use a standard vector ice data in its initial form, as well as to consider such special features as the discontinuities in ice cover, ice leads, and fractures.
Path optimization is a key challenge for safe and cost-efficient ship navigation in ice-covered waters. Recent technology developments make it possible to solve such a routing task in an automatic mode. At the same time, there are several requirements for implementing this idea. First, the formal statement of the routing problem should provide the possibility of considering the maximum number of factors and ice parameters that influence ship speed and route selection. Second, any software-based automatic routing method should serve as an additional tool, which a shipmaster or ice expert will use along with the other instruments to build the recommended route.
