The Effects of Icing on Commercial Fishing Vessels

Authors

Marc Chatterton, James Carson Cook

Sponsor

United States Coast Guard

Advisors

Creighton R. Peet, Kaveh Pahlavan

Term

October – December 2008

Project Outcomes

Final Report

Abstract

Ice accretion on commercial fishing vessels is a problem faced by fishermen in cold climates. The U.S. Coast Guard has standards that pertain to the amount of icing fishing vessels must be able to safely accrete without capsizing. Using research on past vessel incidents and historical weather data, we have assessed the adequacy of the current standards and made recommendations to adjust U.S. Coast Guard standards on region, timeframe, and acceptable icing thickness on fishing vessels in Northeastern U.S.