ARCTIC/POLAR SYMPOSIUM
FOREWORD
This year the OMAE Arctic/Polar Symposium is being held jointly with Port and Ocean Engineering under Arctic Conditions (POAC) Conference. Since the early 70's, the exploration and the production of hydrocarbon resources in the Arctic gave a strong impetus to the research and development activities in which ice mechanics played an important role. To discuss and exchange research results, POAC started holding conferences every two years since 1971, and OMAE started holding Arctic/Polar Symposia annually since the early 80's. Both of them have fostered the interest in various issues of cold regions technology. With the fall of oil prices in the late 80's, the research and development activities related to the Arctic began to decline, affecting the number of papers and attendees at the conferences. To reverse this trend, POAC and OMAE began negotiations a few years ago to hold a joint conference with the aim of increasing participation from industry, government, and academia.
Among other developments related to the Arctic, two stand out at the present time: (a) INSROP sponsored research on the Northern Sea Route, and (b) drilling activities in the offshore areas of Sakhalin Island. There is a strong interest in developing oil and gas resources in the Russian Arctic offshore areas, but the activities at present are limited to studies on natural conditions. Several papers at this conference discuss those current topics.
About 65 papers are due to be presented at this conference, and they include the following topics: Northern Sea Route, Ships and Navigation in ice, Activities in Okhotsk Area, Russian Arctic, Ice Mechanics, Ice Dynamics, Ice Conditions, Ice Loads, and Structures in Ice.
The organization of this joint conference is a result of enthusiastic and volunteer efforts of all authors, session organizers, and reviewers. The conference organizing committees of POAC and OMAE recognize the great efforts undertaken by the Japanese Session Organizers, who have taken extreme care to make this conference a great success.
ARCTIC/POLAR SYMPOSIUM PROGRAM COMMITTEE
Prof.W.A. Nixon, (Symposium Coordinator) Inst. of Hydraulic Research, University of Iowa, USA
Dr.D.S.Sodhi, (Symposium Coordinator) US Army CRREL, Hanover, NH, USA
Prof.H. Kitagawa, (POAC Chairman) Hokkaido University, Sapporo, JAPAN
Prof,K. Hirayama, Iwate University, Iwate, JAPAN
Dr.K.Izumiyama, Ship Research Institute, Ministry of Transport, Tokyo, JAPAN
Mr.K.P.Kennedy, Canadian Marine Drilling Ltd., Calgary, Alberta, CANADA
Dr.D.G.Matskevitch, Memorial University of New-foundland, St.John's, NF, CANADA
Prof.K.Riska, Helsinki University of Technology, Espoo, FINLAND
Prof.H.Yamaguchi, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, JAPAN
POAC INTERNATI0NAL C0MMITTEE
Prof.H.Kitagawa, (Chairman), Hokkaido University, Sapporo, JAPAN
Prof.P.Bruun, (Secretary General), Hilton Head island, SC, USA
Prof.W.M.Sackinger, (Acting Secretary General), Obelisk Hydrocarbons (Alaska) Ltd., Fairbanks, AK, USA
Mr.J.Wilson, Australian Antarctic Division, Kingston, Tasm., AUSTRALIA
Mr.J.Sandkvist, SSPA Maritime Consulting, Goteborg, SWEDEN
Ing.R.Sanguineti, Escuela de lngenieros
Portuarios, Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA
Dr.G.W.Timco, Canadian Hydraulics Centre, NRC, Ottawa, Ont., CANADA
Mr.Xing Chen, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
Dr.F.T, Christensen, Boulder, CO, USA
Mr.G.Viggosson, Icelandic Harbour Authority, Kopavigi, ICELAND
Mr.B. Wright, B. Wright & Associates, Calgary, Alb., CANADA
Dr.J.Schwarz, Hamburg Ship Model Basin, Hamburg, GERMANY
Dr.W.Spring, Mobile Research and Development Corp., Dallas, TX, USA
Dr.S.Loset, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, NORWAY
Prof.B.Mazurkiewicz, Technical University of Gdansk, Gdansk, POLAND
Mr.G.Wilkman, Kvaerner Masa-Yards Arctic Research Centre, Helsinki, FINLAND
