FAST-CAST 2: Automated route planning optimizes navigation in sea ice
Still a dream of the future, but the first test was successful: the automated process developed as part of the German research project FAST-CAST 2 for calculating optimal ship routes through drifting sea ice will probably make navigation in the ice easier in the future.
Thin one-year sea ice here, meter-thick pack ice there, open water in between – navigating through ice-covered waters is a challenge and makes route planning very complex. During the Polarstern Arctic expedition ArcWatch 2, which ended on 13 October 2024, the crew on the bridge of the research icebreaker were able to experience how navigation through drifting sea ice could soon be optimized and made easier for all ships.
Between September 22 and October 2, researchers from the FAST-CAST 2 project team tested their newly developed algorithm for automated route calculation on board the Polarstern not far from the North Pole. Based on high-resolution radar satellite images and ice drift prediction models, the AI process is able to calculate the optimal route through drifting ice floes and changing ice fields for the first time.
“A quantum leap”
The German Aerospace Center (DLR), which is involved in the FAST-CAST 2 project, describes the new development as a quantum leap. In contrast to previous decades when ship route planning through Arctic ice relied solely on sea ice maps derived from radar satellite imagery, the newly developed algorithm goes far beyond simply offering a situational overview.
This uses high-resolution radar satellite data processed at the German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD) and high-resolution ice drift prediction models to estimate the movements of the drifting sea ice. From this spatio-temporal data set, the project partners at the University of Bremen calculate optimal ship routes through the sea ice with an accuracy of 160 meters for the next 72 hours. Within a very short time, the navigators on the bridge of the Polarstern receive the calculated route using the IcySea app developed by Drift+Noise Polar Services GmbH.
Following a preparatory test off West Greenland in the spring of this year, in which the routes were still based on static ice charts, the entire process chain was tested on board the Polarstern for the first time, taking into account the dynamic ice movements during the journey between the stations.
Fastest way through the labyrinth
Although the ice-covered area and the thickness of the sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is decreasing due to global warming, there are also areas where the ice cover is unusually thick. This was also the case at the stations that the Polarstern visited during the test period.
The radar satellite images show an ice cover around the Polarstern which, as decribed by the DLR, was dominated by multi-year ice within a radius of 100 kilometers, although there were also areas with one-year and younger ice as well as isolated open channels. The ship’s radar, which only covers a few kilometers, cannot detect the ice situation to this extent, nor the future ice drift.
The new algorithm, on the other hand, is able to calculate the route over a much greater distance and find the optimal and therefore fastest way through the labyrinth of drifting sea ice. It plans the route preferably through open water and younger ice and also avoids dangerous areas such as shallows.
“After years of development, this test provided a valuable opportunity to gather crucial feedback. It has brought us significantly closer to our goal of making polar shipping safer and more efficient,” says Dr. Christine Eis, scientist at the University of Bremen and scientific director of the project.
The tests of the new procedure were successful and have shown that navigation can benefit from it, especially over longer distances through the ice. The people on the bridge of the Polarstern were also very interested in the new technology.
The project, which was largely funded by the German Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport and launched three years ago, has the overarching goal of shortening the trade routes between Europe and Asia. Currently, merchant ships travel almost exclusively through the Suez Canal. However, the route through the Arctic Ocean, for example from Shanghai to Rotterdam, would be around 2,500 nautical miles shorter and would save an enormous amount of time, fuel costs and emissions. Thanks to the success of the project, which ends today, the Northeast Passage could soon become a suitable alternative route once further tests under different environmental conditions have been completed.
Julia Hager, Polar Journal AG
