MARITIME ACTIVITIES AND THE ISSUES OF LIFE RESCUE IN THE RUSSIAN ARCTIC

Specificfactors of the Arcticenvironmentdirectlyaffectingtheliferescuesystemare considered. The status and prospects of marine activities in this area are considered for shaping the life rescue concept for this region, covering a wide range of operations, including transportation of various cargoes, construction and installation works, geologic exploration, mining, multi-disciplinary research in ice conditions, etc. Based on this, the configuration and characteristics of the engineering facilities operated in the region are summarized. Particular attention is paid to the icebreaker fleet, as ensuring the safety of marine activities in ice conditions. The specific aspects of life rescue operations in the Arctic, including reported events, are considered. The paper contains data on icebreakers, which are among key rescuetechnologies. Air-cushion vessels (ACV) areanothertypeofrescue meanshavingsignificantly lessweather and performance restrictions than helicopters. Information on the equipment ofa number of rescue centers with these vessels is summarized. The available ACVs of smaller size areanalyzed.It is revealed that not all of them are suitable for rescue operations due to their parameters. There is a wide diversity in ACV types, mainly in terms of the equipment used, which introduces considerable difficulties in maintenance and repair. More significant drawbacks of the existing ships are too low passenger capacity and low cruising range. In addition, all of them are not adapted to the reception and transportation of injured people. In this regard, recommendations have been developed for the unification of a numerous type of small ACVs. Suggesting approaches to more efficient utilizationofvesselstheauthors haveanalyzedthe numerical composition of the crews working on ships and arctic facilities, the range of their location from the coast. Based on this analysis, the capacityandrange requirements for ACVs are justified. An efficient type of ACVs is proposed to fill up the gap in available vessels.

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