With only 2 tons per m2 loading (no stacking) a 500t cargo needs 25m x 10m footprint, which, compared to the ‘lane’ I gave each vessel, is only 1/20th the width of that lane and only 1/80th the length until the next unit of ‘lane’; literally only 1⁄1,600th of each lane is occupied by vessels, as the ‘full capacity’ I listed. It’s bizarre that tacking would magically absorb so much space that vessels occupying 1⁄1,600th of the available area would somehow collide.
Realistically, you can stack many tons on each m2 of ice—it can hold a hundred tons reliably. So, if you didn’t mind a really tall stack, your 500t ship could occupy a much smaller footprint.
Further, 500t was an easy value to plug-in, for estimates of total annual tonnage delivered. I don’t assume that 500t is the optimal scale; doubling each dimension of the ship would only increase its footprint by 4x while providing it with 8x as much room on the ice, 2.8x longer to respond to any disruption or potential collision.
I also have a feeling that “make sure you all don’t collide” is a pretty simple math problem for autonomous sailboats. Especially considering that you can geo-fence the track. Rio Tinto has been using autonomous vehicles on their mining sites, precisely because you’re unlikely to run over somebody’s dog there. Same reasoning applies to a hundred-foot-tall wall of ice at the top of the world; autonomy would allow dense traffic at low capital, again.
I have yet to hear a realistic critique; all these responses stem from the readers’ erroneous assumptions, or lack of digesting the scale described. In contrast, I’m scraping my brain for the best ways to solve the real engineering hurdles, like de-crusting the spray nozzles, because particulates exiting the stream would become seeds for ice-crystallization. You know, the actual problems that would happen, if we did it… not imaginary hyperbole like “you’d run into each other, even though there’s a mile and a half to maneuver between every ship”. The critique I receive on this site is full of fallacies and errors; its commenters are not a reliable source of insight.
For those who don’t want to do the mental math:
With only 2 tons per m2 loading (no stacking) a 500t cargo needs 25m x 10m footprint, which, compared to the ‘lane’ I gave each vessel, is only 1/20th the width of that lane and only 1/80th the length until the next unit of ‘lane’; literally only 1⁄1,600th of each lane is occupied by vessels, as the ‘full capacity’ I listed. It’s bizarre that tacking would magically absorb so much space that vessels occupying 1⁄1,600th of the available area would somehow collide.
Realistically, you can stack many tons on each m2 of ice—it can hold a hundred tons reliably. So, if you didn’t mind a really tall stack, your 500t ship could occupy a much smaller footprint.
Further, 500t was an easy value to plug-in, for estimates of total annual tonnage delivered. I don’t assume that 500t is the optimal scale; doubling each dimension of the ship would only increase its footprint by 4x while providing it with 8x as much room on the ice, 2.8x longer to respond to any disruption or potential collision.
I also have a feeling that “make sure you all don’t collide” is a pretty simple math problem for autonomous sailboats. Especially considering that you can geo-fence the track. Rio Tinto has been using autonomous vehicles on their mining sites, precisely because you’re unlikely to run over somebody’s dog there. Same reasoning applies to a hundred-foot-tall wall of ice at the top of the world; autonomy would allow dense traffic at low capital, again.
I have yet to hear a realistic critique; all these responses stem from the readers’ erroneous assumptions, or lack of digesting the scale described. In contrast, I’m scraping my brain for the best ways to solve the real engineering hurdles, like de-crusting the spray nozzles, because particulates exiting the stream would become seeds for ice-crystallization. You know, the actual problems that would happen, if we did it… not imaginary hyperbole like “you’d run into each other, even though there’s a mile and a half to maneuver between every ship”. The critique I receive on this site is full of fallacies and errors; its commenters are not a reliable source of insight.