At present, the special project “Analysis and assessment of the motion and structural safety of arctic ships in extreme environments” was officially approved, which “Inter-governmental international cooperation in science and technology innovation” national key research plan project coordinated by Harbin Engineering University. It marks a new breakthrough in serving the national polar strategy developing and co-constructing the arctic waterway, after coordinating the Chinese consortium of  the of European Commission “Horizon 2020 Plan” project “safe maritime operation under extreme conditions (SEDNA)” The project kickoff meeting was held at our university on May 25th.  

The project “analysis and assessment of the motion and structural safety of arctic ships in extreme environments”, in collaboration with the competent European research organizations of the field and by dealing with the practical problems of the ship “Yongsheng” in extreme conditions in artic environment, will analyze polar waterway environment; investigate the ice loads, structural strength, and motion; develop technologies of on-site monitoring of ice environment, ice load and ice breaking abilities, prediction of motion and structure performances, and also; and develop China’s first code for analyzing motion and structural safety. The code will have the European consortium members and COSCO Shipping group as its first users, providing technical support to the safe operation and navigation for polar ships.

Professor Xue Yanzhuo, the director of the Polar Equipment key laboratory of Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), , is the coordinator project. Associate Professor Ni Baoyu, is the technical director of the project. In cooperation with the above-mentioned European and Chinese organizations that are competent in the field of polar research, the project aims to provide a set of safe, effective and environmentally friendly solutions to the shipping in polar areas (The northeast waterway connecting Europe to China), and also to provide the support to the “Ice Silk Road” that is being co-built by China and Europe.

The “Polar equipment technology” key laboratory of MIIT was established based on the Grand Polar Science and Engineering Research Center of the university. The laboratory, in response to the 13th five-year national plan for scientific and technological innovations, the 13th five-year strategy for national security, the “Maritime Power”, the “One Belt and One Road” Initiative, and the “Made in China 2025” strategy, was established in the intention to satisfy the needs of the nation and the industry for the capabilities in manufacturing of equipment and key technologies for exploring the polar shipping routes and exploiting the polar areas. Thanks to the geographic advantage of higher latitude (lower average temperature) and its exceeding experience in designing and manufacturing polar ships, the laboratory was elected as a key laboratory of MIIT in October, 2017. The research areas of the laboratory include polar environment and prediction of ice load, polar structures and prediction of motion, polar worthiness of structures, communication in polar areas, navigation and detection technologies. One of the objectives of the laboratory is, by integrating the competent disciplines of the university, to create a new discipline in the field of polar ships and marine engineering, which is hoped to finally become an internationally recognized research area of HEU. Since their foundation, the laboratory and the center have coordinated and been involved in a number of major government projects related to polar ship and ocean engineering, including the National Natural Science Foundation of China key projects, MIIT project of China’s latest scientific research vessel “Xuelong 2” and the world's first polar deck transport ship, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) Key R&D Plan project “a new type of polar ice zone semi-submersible drilling platform”. In 2017, the joint-research SEDNA project was approved by the European Commission, and HEU was the coordinator of the Chinese consortium. SEDNA was the only project approved by European Commission in the areas of maritime transportation in the season 2016-2017, and a fund of 6.8M Euros was granted.