Polar 8 Project
Polar 8 design | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Polar 8 |
| Operators | Canadian Coast Guard |
| Cost | Can$680 million |
| Planned | 1 |
| Cancelled | 1 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Icebreaker - Polar class |
| Displacement | 37,000 long tons (38,000 t) |
| Propulsion | Diesel electric, 3 shafts, 107,000 shp (80,000 kW) |
| Speed | 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph) |
| Aircraft carried | 3 helicopters |
The Polar 8 Project was a Canadian shipbuilding project intended to provide the Canadian Coast Guard with a large and heavy class icebreaker capable of operating year-round in the Northwest Passage. The project was developed as a means to assert Canada's sovereignty in the Arctic Ocean. It commenced in 1985 but was cancelled in 1990 while still in the final design stage. It was Canada's direct response to the unauthorized transit through the Northwest Passage in summer 1985 by USCGC Polar Sea, a United States Coast Guard icebreaker. Polar 8 refers the capability of the ship in ice of that thickness in feet, in this case 8 feet (2.4 m).