If we are breaking ice, the ship actually runs up on the ice and the weight of the ship breaks it into smaller pieces. In order to break heavy ice, the ship rams back and forth. There is also a way to make the ship roll from side to side if necessary. We haven't had to break any heavy sea ice since I've been aboard. Today, we have been traveling through pack ice.
Pack ice is made up of various sizes of ice pieces that are floating with the currents.
Most of the pack ice that we are seeing was part of the solid layer of sea ice that covered this area last winter. Since it is now late summer, the pack has broken up and is moving with the winds and the currents. When the pieces of ice are spread apart with water between them it is called loose or open pack. Close pack is when the pieces of ice are pretty close together and you can't see much water at all. Today, we have been in a lot of loose pack ice.