I’m obsessed with icebreaking: I was trained not to hit anything – now I drive my ship into ice 24/7

6 hours ago 1

I have been working for the British Antarctic Survey since I was 19. I started icebreaking on my first trip to the Antarctic and got hooked. Now I am the captain of the royal research ship Sir David Attenborough and I find icebreaking addictive.

It’s unique in a maritime career to have the ability, even as a junior officer, to do quite intricate ship handling and manoeuvring at all stages. Ships break the ice continually, 24/7 – so the whole bridge team gets to do it.

We break the ice to get to the British research stations in the Antarctic, so we can resupply the people there with all the food, fuel and scientific equipment they need. Then we take all their waste back to the UK, along with their scientific samples.

We also break the ice to carry out marine science at sea, in icy waters and on the ice itself. On my ship, we can take up to 55 scientists at a time; we are a floating laboratory, with 14 different facilities onboard. We can send wires down 10,000 metres beneath the ice to get water samples, and we can dredge along the seabed and drill into it to get mud samples and assess climate change.

A red research ship in an icy passage of water between two land masses

At the moment, the Sir David Attenborough is tied up alongside an ice shelf, discharging cargo for a big science project about the Thwaites glacier.

The bow looks a little like an upside down spoon with a sharp edge. The ship will ride up on top of the ice and break it with its weight.

One of the reasons I am obsessed with icebreaking is because you are taught, during maritime training, how not to hit things. So to get to drive a ship that’s designed to hit the ice is great fun.

I remember at 19 feeling excited by all the noise – mostly banging and a little bit of cracking – as the ice is broken, and then the rush of the water and the vibrations you feel.

It’s possible to get stuck – or “beset” – in sea ice for long periods of time, although the longest I’ve been stuck in one place is about eight days.

Sometimes, you get stuck because the winds have changed and pressure has increased in the ice. Then there is nothing you can do except sit and wait for conditions to improve. There is no ship very close that could come to our rescue, and it would take a long time.

A ship seen from above leaving a clear trail through ice as it sails towards ice-free water

Other times, you get stuck because you’ve driven into the ice with too much momentum and the ice has nipped you either side. Then you can use internal movable weight onboard to try to create a list, which will hopefully break the friction with the ice.

So we’re careful. We tend to hit the ice at about eight knots (about 9mph or 14km/h), so we’ve got more power to get ourselves out if we need to. From experience, I’ve learned how to look at ice and know whether it’s first-year ice, which the ship is designed to break, or ice that has withstood multiple summers and could damage the ship. We have a tower that allows us to see further ahead, and we even use drones for planning, to get an overview of the ice.

Although I always knew I wanted to work at sea, I never realised breaking ice would become the focus of my career. But it’s an immensely satisfying and enjoyable job, in a very special place, where the scenery and wildlife are incredible. Every day, I wake up and feel excited to go to work – and very, very fortunate.