Water Babies
Intending to take your yacht out for a trip to the wilderness? You’re probably better off creating one from scratch.
A TRIP TO explore the unknown is almost always spiked with a dose of adrenaline and adventure. But chances are, unless you already own an expedition yacht built to specific requirements, you won’t be able to make that trip. Vessels intending to traverse through the poles have to comply with the International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters, more often known as the Polar Code. Regulated by the International Maritime Organization, the Polar Code has a list of mandates including ship design, construction and equipment, where hull shape, stability and structure come into play. Compared to leisure yachts which are usually built out of wood, aluminium and more recently fibreglass, expedition yachts have to be built with high tensile-strength steel, which is capable of operating below freezing temperatures.
These expedition yachts must have a Polar Ship certificate, where classifications are awarded to different vessel types, which can then sail in either medium-sized first-year ice, thin sheets of first-year ice, or open water or ice conditions less severe than the first two. Yachts also need special ice strengthening treatments, including the addition of an ice belt that goes from the hull till two metres above the waterline, to reduce abrasion damages caused by contact with ice.
Expedition yachts aren’t new, but the recently implemented Polar Code has caused a new ‘breed’ of yachts to enter the market. These claim to be the world’s first private expedition yachts to comply with the Polar Code category B with heavy ice Polar Class reinforcement.
Polar Class indicates the ice conditions in which the yacht is able to steer in. The highest rating, PC1, allows the vessel to operate all year round in polar waters, while the lowest, PC7, only allows operation in summer or autumn months in thin first-year ice conditions.
While there are already a number of expedition yachts on the market, the most interesting ones are the concept yachts, which are still waiting for the right owners to bring these ideas to life.