Defining "Polar Regions"

I’m just saying, some of us boomers have sailed the “polar regions” and are well aware of the difficulties and dangers involved. But there is also the definition of “polar region”. IMO, if you are not north of the Bering Straits, you haven’t “gone Polar”.

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There’s a snowmobile trail near my house where I often walk. In winter I sometimes see an Arctic Cat snowmobile.

It never occurred to me that I might have walked too far and was in the Arctic. It’s just a brand name.

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The areas inside the Arctic and Antarctic Circles are by definition “Polar regions”.

There are areas south of the Arctic Circle that experience very polar conditions for part of the year, (like Hudson Bay etc.)
Likewise there are areas within the Arctic Circle that is rather temperate, even in the winter, thank to the warm water you supply from the “Gulf of America”.
(Known as Gulf of Mexico until further notice)


Located above 66 degrees north, Alaska, Canada, Finland, Greenland, Norway, Sweden and Russia are all partly above the Arctic Circle.
Source: How to Get to the Arctic Circle and Traveling to the North Pole | Lindblad Expeditions

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That’s one definition, there are others, this one is from Bowditch.

polar regions. The regions near the geographic poles. No definite limit for these regions is recognized.

From the same source, a specific usage:

polar navigation. Navigation in polar regions, where unique considerations and techniques are applied. No definite limit for these regions is recognized but polar navigation techniques are usually used from about latitude 70°N.

You forgot to quote the next bit of my post:

For a detailed definition of Polar Regions, see here:

PS> The position of the Arctic Circle is not fixed and currently runs 66°33′50.3″ north of the Equator . Its latitude depends on Earth’s axial tilt, which fluctuates by a margin of some 2° over a 41,000-year period, due to tidal forces resulting from the orbit of the Moon.

Major circles of latitude

Arctic Circle (66°33′50.3″ N)
Tropic of Cancer (23°26′09.7″ N)
Equator (0° latitude)
Tropic of Capricorn (23°26′09.7″ S)
Antarctic Circle (66°33′50.3″ S)

International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters (Polar Code)

Damn boomers again cloging :wink:

Polar water/area definition is here and on top of this explanation of Polar Code from Class DNV GL perspective.

DNV GL Polar Code 2017.pdf (3.6 MB)

Leaving other definitions aside (geographical, environmental etc, etc ) I would rather stick to :

But i may be wrong of course :wink:
And for interested connoisseurs and polar buffs the Polar Code in it’s entirety here in my gDrive access with "viewers " rights only :

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The term “region” is inherently ambiguous so its meaning is going to depend on context.

In cases where precision is required (legal, technical documents of example), the typical practice is to define terms or provide a reference.

:laughing:

Congratulations. I also earned that and since then found out I qualified for the Arctic Service medal. Made “Square Knot Sailor”.

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IMO, if you are not north of the Bering Straits, you haven’t “gone Polar”. What can I say? I was an EM way down deep in the bowels of the ship on generator watch or motor room watch. Maps and where we where was left up to the quartermasters. I was thinking in terms of “there’s ice” or “it’s ice free” and south of the Straits is normally ice-free.

I don’t disagree. It’s about context. The reason I moved your post is because the OP in the Polar Tanker thread is looking for info, not a bunch of BS.

I figure I got my ticket punched in the Chukchi Sea north of Barrow (now Utqiagvik).

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Not really trying for BS. I was thinking about just where a “polar tanker” might be called on to go. Will the tankers go north of the Straits? Or through the Northwest Passage? When the SS Manhattan went over the top, even though it was fitted with an icebreaking bow, it took three icebreakers to get her through. I’m just sayin’.

SS Manhattan was, at the time and for a long time afterwards, the largest icebreaking ship ever to enter service.

This year there were 18 commercial transits between late July and mid-November, not to mention numerous destinational voyages, by ice-strengthened but not icebreaking ships mainly without icebreaker assistance.

“The polar region’s still the same. There’s just… less in it.”

From ConocoPhllips website

The Polar Tanker fleet consists of five Endeavour Class tankers—the Polar Endeavour, Polar Resolution, Polar Discovery, Polar Adventure and Polar Enterprise—designed specifically for the twice-monthly 2,500 to 5,000-mile round-trip from Valdez, Alaska, to Washington, California, and Hawaii.

Don’t recall meeting anyone that worked there, don’t know much about the ships or the company. That run however does not fit any reasonable definition of 'polar regions".

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I agree. Valdez is an “ice free” port.

But of course there may be some drift glacial ice at any time of year on the approaches.

I don’t know whether the Polar Tanker are ice class, or not.

To me, the Arctic or Polar region begins at the Arctic Ocean (e.g. the Bering Strait). Perhaps there are some exceptions.

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https://www.asil.org/topics/signaturetopics/BNJ/polar

The five Endeavour Class tankers are not ice class. They are ‘polar tankers’ in name only.

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Search for IMO Polar Code, it will answer your question. You’ll need at Basic Polar Code Operations endorsement to navigate polar waters.

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Yeah “Polar Tankers” is a brand, kind of like “Seattle’s Best Coffee”. The tankers aren’t actually polar and the coffee isn’t really Seattle’s best.

The tankers go to Alaska but they do not go to polar regions, no matter how you define polar. That’s why we built the trans-Alaskan pipeline after all. Because operating actual tankers in that part of the world would be prohibitively expensive, risky, and doable only for a limited period of the year.

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