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Polar Code
Operating Envelope

Guidance note and template

Introduction
What is the operating envelope?
The operating envelope represents the quantification of the range of conditions that the ship itself could be
subjected to during its intended polar operations. This is necessary for the design or enhancement of the
hull structure, as well as the selection or upgrade of equipment, and the definition of training requirements
or additional training for crew (as per the Polar Water Operational Manual).

Why is the operating envelope important?

The operating envelope identifies what conditions the ship is intended to operate in: they are the basis for
applying the requirements of the Polar Code and effectively set limitations for ship operation. If the
operating envelope is too broad, requirements for the ship, equipment and systems will be overly onerous. If
the operating envelope is too narrow, the ship may be overly restricted in terms of permissible operations in
polar waters.

Do I need an operating envelope?

The Polar Code does not require an operating envelope to be explicitly written. However, implicitly the
operating envelope needs to be determined so that the ship’s characteristics – such as the ice class; or the
specification of equipment for low temperature – can be defined. The operating envelope and this template
are a recommended means of approaching this definition activity in a structured manner.

Establishing the Operating Envelope

To establish the ship’s operating envelope, use the following questions as a guide:

Area
What polar region will I be operating in, or do I anticipate operating in?
The area will be used to identify relevant ice, temperature and metocean data. It will also be used to
determine the remoteness of the intended operations and the proximity of search and rescue (SAR) support
infrastructure. Latitude will be used to determine whether the ship will be exposed to extended periods of
darkness.

Examples: Arctic, High Arctic, Antarctic, Antarctic Peninsula or specific routes, port calls, shuttle service trade

Establish: Operating area, latitude range, routing

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If transit to a safe port is required within this operating area, will this change my operating area?
The Polar Code requires voyage planning to take account of places of refuge. If the only place of refuge is
outside the operating area, consideration should be given to extending the operating area to encompass
that refuge.

Establish: Any changes to operating area, latitude range, routing

Season
What is my intended operating season(s)?
The season will be used to refine the data sets for temperature, ice conditions and metocean data, so that
only the relevant environmental conditions form the boundary of the operating envelope.

Examples: Spring, summer, autumn, winter/specific dates for port calls/specific windows of operation for
projects/year-round service

Establish: Season range

Given the timing of my intended voyages, is there the possibility of carry over to a shoulder
season due to transit delays (e.g. weather conditions, mechanical issues)?

Establish: Any changes to season range

Will my operations include icebreaker escort?

Establish: Relevant changes to ice condition data experienced by the ship if the ship is under icebreaker
escort

SAR Availability

What SAR resources are available to me?

Using the operating area, latitude range and season range, determine which SAR assets are available that
could be deployed to assist in the event of an emergency/abandonment scenario.

Establish: Description and contact points for SAR services/resources in operating area

What is the range of the SAR resources available to me?

Using information from the SAR services, determine how long it would typically take for SAR assets to be
deployed. Evaluate if the deployment time varies with the season.

Establish: ‘On scene’ time of SAR services to the operational area for the season range

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Environmental Conditions

What environmental conditions will I encounter in the operating area for the season range?
Using internal and external information relevant to the operating area, characteristics of the environment
should be determined and data collated.

In particular, data on temperature; likelihood of ice accretion; and ice conditions are required to set
operational limitations in the Polar Code. Other metocean data may be relevant depending on the
anticipated operations.

Establish: Limiting ice conditions for the operating area and season range, mean daily low temperature
(MDLT) for operating area and season range, likelihood of ice accretion for operating area and season
range

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Operating Envelope Template

We’ve created a template to help you through the process. Populate the template to develop an operating
envelope. If there are multiple operations you can use multiple tables to collate data and then take the most
onerous case across all operations.

Attach supporting information on SAR, temperature and ice conditions where possible. This is not a
requirement but will be useful if the operating envelope is to be reviewed or revised during the later
operational assessment.

Area
Polar region
(general routing
description):

Target port of call:

Latitude range:

Latitude range increased

for place of refuge:

SAR presence on route:

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Season
Operating season:

Operation season
extension/margin:

SAR Availability
Anticipated response
and rescue time on
route from SAR
resources during season
of operation:

Environmental Conditions
Prevailing ice conditions
for area and season of
operation:

Lowest MDLT for area

and season of operation:

Likelihood of ice accretion

for area and season of
operation:

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Attachment 1: SAR Resources

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Attachment 2: Ice Conditions Data

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Attachment 3: Temperature Data

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Example: Summertime Trade to Baffin Island

Area
Polar region Labrador Sea, Davis Strait, Baffin Bay, Milne Port
(general routing
description):

Target port of call: Milne Port, Baffin Island

Latitude range: Max. latitude expected on approach to Milne Inlet 73° north

Latitude range increased No, places of refuge are further south

for place of refuge:

SAR presence on route: Description of nearest SAR bases: Canadian Coast Guard Search and Rescue –
JRCC Halifax (Southern Baffin Island and Eastern Approach) and JRCC Trenton
(Northern Baffin Island and Western Approach)
See Attachment 1

Season
Operating season: Mid-July to mid-October

Operating season +10 days margin (assume to late October)

extension/margin:

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SAR Availability
Anticipated response Five days, based on the presence of Canadian Coast Guard assets in area during
and rescue time on operating season
route from SAR
resources during season
of operation:

Environmental Conditions
Prevailing ice conditions Nine-tenths total ice concentration, of which 2/10 grey-white, 5/10 grey, 2/10
for area and season of new
operation: (based on analysis of ice chart data)
See Attachment 1 for ice chart with prevailing ice conditions (based on
Canadian Ice Service data)
See Attachment 2
Lowest MDLT for area Until end of October: −17.5°C
and season of operation: Until mid-October: −10°C
(Information based on Pond Inlet A weather station)
See Attachment 3

Likelihood of ice accretion Considered likely based on IMO Intact Stability Code guidance and Transport
for area and season of Canada requirements
operation:

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Attachment 1: SAR Resources

SAR resources for Northern Canada

JRCC Halifax – Air Support

103 Search and Rescue Squadron from 9 Wing Gander, Newfoundland, flying CH-149 Cormorant
helicopters; and 413 Transport and Rescue Squadron from 14 Wing Greenwood, Nova Scotia, flying CC-
130 Hercules tactical transport aircraft and CH-149 Cormorant helicopters.

JRCC Halifax – Marine Support

The Canadian Coast Guard provides the primary maritime resources to the federal SAR system, with vessels
continually on offshore SAR patrols off the coasts of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador. There
are approximately 20 dedicated rescue cutters.

JRCC Trenton – Air Support

424 Transport and Rescue Squadron from 8 Wing Trenton, Ontario, flying CC-130 Hercules tactical
transport aircraft and CH-146 Griffon helicopters; and 435 Transport and Rescue Squadron from 17 Wing
Winnipeg, Manitoba, flying CC-130 Hercules tactical transport aircraft.

JRCC Trenton – Marine Support

Marine support via the Canadian Coast Guard, as above for Halifax.

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Attachment 2: Ice Conditions Data

Indicative ice chart

Illustrating maximum ice considered as ‘prevailing’ conditions for season of operation

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Attachment 3: Temperature Data

Temperature data from Pond Inlet A weather station

Data from Environment Canada

Figure 1: Temperature and precipitation graph for 1981 to 2010 – normals for Pond Inlet A
weather station

10.0

5.0

0.0
11-Jan
31-Jan

07-Sep
27-Sep
20-Apr

18-Aug

06-Nov
26-Nov

05-Jan
25-Jan
19-Jun
20-Feb

09-Jul
29-Jul

17-Oct
02-Dec
22-Dec

10-May
30-May
11-Mar
31-Mar

16-Dec
-5.0

-10.0

-15.0

-20.0

-25.0

-30.0

-35.0

-40.0

-45.0

Figure 2: MDLT derived for Pond Inlet A weather station (x-axis – date, y-axis – temperature)

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Commentary on Example
During a review of the ice information for our operating season of mid-July to mid-October, it was identified
that it is the end of the season that is likely to give the worst ice conditions. With a mid-October end date,
there is generally no ice. We extended the operating season by 10 days to explore the option of an extended
season for ice navigation and as a margin for operations in mid-October. We undertook a check of these
prevailing conditions using the POLARIS system (see our guide on using POLARIS) and established that these
conditions still enabled a non-ice-strengthened ship to operate, with the risk index outcome slightly positive.
These ice conditions are used as the prevailing conditions.

During the review we looked at temperature data from Pond Inlet weather station; it is close to the port of
call and is the most northerly weather station on the expected route. We reviewed the norms from the
Environment Canada website (the first figure in Attachment 3) and concluded that the temperature was
close to or below −10°C at the end of our operating season. We know that the Polar Code indicates that
ships intended to operate in areas where the lowest MDLT is below −10°C are considered “ships operating
in low air temperature”, and thus have stricter requirements. Because our assumed operating season is close
to this threshold, we undertook a more detailed temperature analysis, looking at 10 years of data on a daily
basis to compute the lowest MDLT for October. We found that, over a 10-year period, the first time the
lowest MDLT dropped below −10°C was 9 October. If we extend the season out until the end of October,
the lowest MDLT is −17°C. It therefore appears that the temperature is a potential limitation to our
operations. We have two options:

1. to set our operating envelope at a temperature of MDLT = −10°C (we would then potentially be
redefining our operating envelope based on temperature, to end the season by 10 October); or
2. to retain our existing season end (with the margin) at the end of October and set our operating
envelope at a temperature of MDLT = −17°C.

With option 1, we are effectively redefining our operating envelope by setting a temperature limit. This may
restrict our operations. However, we also know that this is at the end of the season and we (as the owner)
may feel that we can take the risk of setting our envelope limit at MDLT = −10°C and that, for the
occasional times at the end of the season when temperatures reach this threshold, we may either have to
divert or cease operations.

With option 2, we get the flexibility of operating later into the season. However, because we have passed
the MDLT −10ºC threshold set in the Polar Code, the ship is now considered a “ship intended to operate in
low air temperatures”. Because the ship is intended to operate in low air temperatures, it is required to have
a polar service temperature (PST), which is set 10°C below the lowest MDLT for the area and the season of
operation (which, based on this operating envelope, would be −17°C). Consequently, we would have to
specify a PST of −27°C, which will have an effect on the equipment and materials required.

In the end, it is up to the operator to make the decision to either limit the ship’s season of operation by
defining an operating envelope that is easier to comply with, or define an operating envelope that includes
the entire season (and a margin) on the understanding that there will be equipment and material upgrade
implications.

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