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January 2013 www.sname.org/sname/mt important that they participated as independent experts, not as representatives of any commercial interests. Transatlantic was willing to sponsor the rst Ice Council meeting, and it was decided to have the meet- ing in connection with POAC09 in Lulea, Sweden. e original plan was to have two meetings per year, with at least one of them in connection with other important polar events like POAC and IceTech. e invited panellists and members of the coun- cil came from nearly all countries with polar activities, including Russia, the United States, Canada, Germany, Finland, and Sweden. A majority were captains with long experience in polar operations, but people work- ing with rules and regulations and with design of polar vessels also were invited. The agenda is based on introduction of discus- sion topics more than the presenting of papers. The Council starts with a closed internal meeting between the members of the council to discuss the agenda and how to moderate the discussions. After that comes the general meeting to which everybody is welcome. However, participants must pre-register for logisti- cal reasons. Participation is free of charge. Normally, a preliminary program is introduced six months in advance. Approximately two months before the meet- ing, a detailed program is distributed in due time for visa procedures. e sponsor, Transatlantic, invites all participants to a reception on the evening of the rst day. e closing of the meeting normally takes place on the afternoon of day two. ere are no printed proceedings, but Ice Council photos and introductions, as well as the agenda, can be found on the Internet. Meetings Following the rst meeting in Lulea, ve more coun- cil events have been organized in dierent parts of the world. Transatlantic has continued to sponsor the Ice Council, along with Viking. e second meeting took place at Kalmar Maritime Academy. In addition to the council meeting, the participants were introduced to the ice navigation simulator, where inexperienced ?drivers? could experience the art of navigating an ice-strength- ened vessel in heavy pack ice. Driving in ice, towing, escort icebreaking, and team building of ice manage- ment teams are other examples of simulator training. Ice Council meetings have taken place in Murmansk, Montreal, Anchorage, and Ban. In Murmansk, we had a unique opportunity to meet with many experienced Russian polar ship captains. Polar experiences and escort icebreaking in the Baltic, especially in the Gulf of Finland, were discussed. Rosatomot, responsible for all the atomic icebreakers, was kind enough to invite us to arrange the meeting onboard the retired Russian atomic icebreaker Lenin .In 2011, Transatlantic was divided into two business areas: Transatlantic for industrial shipping (cargo vessels) and Viking Supply Ships for offshore and icebreaking. Viking has decided to continue to sponsor the Ice Council under the name Viking Ice Council.? e rst event with Viking was in Ban in September 2012 in connection with Icetech12. e number of participants has increased steadily and in Ban the number reached an all time high. The future During Ice Council meetings, participants who are in a position to direct the development of polar explora- tion have expressed a positive interest in participating in future council meetings. ey appreciate that we have tried to keep the council free of commercial marketing and that the board members express their honest opin- ions based on experience rather than sales strategy. As long as we have such support, we will continue to orga- nize Ice Council meetings. We will soon be announcing the next meeting, which will be hold in Helsinki in June 2013. e meeting will take place in connection with POAC2013, but at this writing, dates and location have not yet been decided. More information can be found online at www.viking supply.com/event/doLink/FAMID/295812. MTAnders Backman is manager of polar operations for Viking Supply Ships in Sweden, and is chair of the Ice Council. From the ?rst Ice Council meeting in 2009: Victor Santos-Pedro, left, at the time working with Transport Canada, speaks with Captain Valentin Davidyants, master of the latest Russian atomic icebreaker, 50 Let Pobedy.