How are they different from regular ships?
What makes them be able to plow through ice where others aren’t?
In: 4586
To add: it’s a popular misconception that ice breakers thrust THROUGH the ice because that’s how we see ships go over water.
Ice breakers don’t. They are designed to ride up on top of the ice and then their weight collapses the ice under them. They then ride up again and repeat.
It’s why they are rated for various thicknesses of ice, by how much weight they have and by extension how much the ice will carry before it gives way.
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