All Posts

Rescue in Alaska is measured in hours, not minutes In Alaskan waters, the question is not whether help will come, but how long the crew must survive until it arrives. The U.S. Coast Guard's Arctic District is responsible for more than 3.8 million square miles of ocean and over 47,300 miles of shoreline across Alaska and the Arctic. Air Station Kodiak, the largest Coast Guard command in the Pacific, covers an area of more than 4 million square miles, including the Gulf of Alas

Every offshore emergency plan assumes a rescue time. SOLAS approval alone does not show that an immersion suit will last that long in cold-water conditions.

Conventional immersion suits treat an emergency as a race against hypothermia. The Arctic 10+ turns it into a survival situation that can be managed until rescue arrives.

U.S. Navy and Marine Corps vessels sit outside the Polar Code entirely. As Arctic operations grow, does current cold-water immersion equipment meet the standard the services have already set for themselves?

The Arctic 10+ in Arctic field conditions — built for the days between abandonment and rescue, not just the first hour. Every immersion suit on the market is judged against the same question: does it meet the applicable standard? That's the wrong starting question, and it always has been. The right one is simpler and harder to hide from: if the person wearing this suit actually ends up in the water, or on the ice, does it keep them alive and functional long enough to be found

On a long transatlantic ferry flight in April 2026, a Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron out of Belle Chasse, Louisiana equipped its aircrew with Arctic 10+ immersion suits before departure. Three suits, one flight, one very old question: if something goes wrong over the North Atlantic, how long do you actually have? That question isn't limited to open water. A growing share of Arctic flying — polar resupply runs, research-support flights, sovereignty patrols, trans-polar car

On August 24, Prime Minister Carney announced an $11 billion contract for six new Polar Class 3 Program Icebreakers, to be built at Chantier Davie in Lévis, Quebec. Each will carry up to 68 crew and program personnel. The first is due in 2032, with the full fleet in service by 2038. It's the largest investment in Canadian icebreaking capability in a generation, and it will keep Canadian Coast Guard crews working in Arctic and sub-Arctic waters for decades to come. It's also a

When a vessel receives its Polar Ship Certificate, a Recognized Organization certifies that it is fit for polar operations. In most cases, that certification is silent on whether the immersion suits aboard provide thermal protection adequate for the Maximum Expected Time of Rescue. That silence is the question this post is about.

Published by White Glacier Manufacturing Corp. In February 2026, Chile's maritime authority became the first to operationalize Polar Code Chapter 8's goal-based LSA verification at the port state control level.

Published by White Glacier Manufacturing Corp. This post is the practical response to that problem. What follows is not a marketing document. It is a working checklist — the questions a diligent polar vessel operator should be able to answer before their next polar voyage, and the documentation they should be able to produce if a flag state PSC officer, a P&I surveyor, or a court asks them to demonstrate that their LSA equipment was adequate for their operating area. If you c

Published by White Glacier Manufacturing Corp. There is a question every polar vessel operator must be able to answer — and most cannot. If your crew enters the water in the most remote part of your operating area, in the worst seasonal conditions, and SAR response takes three days, will they survive? Not: do their suits carry a valid certificate? Not: did you complete the drill log? Will they survive? The SAR Reality in Polar Waters In the North Sea, SAR infrastructure is ma

Ergopro test facility, Trondheim, Norway — August 2022. The test subject immersed in 0°C water at −20°C air temperature with 10 m/s wind. By test end, the pool had frozen solid around the suit. Published by White Glacier Manufacturing Corp. There is a question that every polar vessel operator should ask — but rarely does: What happens to my crew's immersion suit the moment seawater gets inside it? For the vast majority of suits on the market today, the answer is straightforwa

Published by White Glacier Manufacturing Corp. When a mariner falls into Arctic waters, they have minutes — not hours — before cold incapacitation sets in. The suit on their back is the difference between survival and tragedy. Yet the international standard most vessels rely on was never designed, tested, or validated for polar conditions. That is the uncomfortable truth at the center of modern polar maritime safety. A Standard Built for a Different World Conventional Life-Sa

Designed as an Abandonment Suit — Engineered for Real-World Versatility The Arctic 10+ is optimized for emergency use across a wide spectrum of cold-water environments (0°C to 15°C+ water temperatures). Its intelligent design allows it to adapt effectively to different abandonment scenarios without compromising core protection. Key Versatility Features Advanced Temperature Regulation: The removable arm system lets the wearer pull arms inside for maximum warmth during passive

Lifeboat drills in calm conditions can create a false sense of security when polar reality is far more demanding. Most vessels conduct regular lifeboat drills. Crews board the lifeboats, start the engines, and feel prepared. But in polar and cold-water environments, these drills may be giving operators and crews a dangerous false sense of security. The combination of a standard lifeboat and a conventional immersion suit is often inadequate for the realities of polar abandonme

The IMO Polar Code is a goal-based framework, not a simple checklist. Chapter 8 requires that life-saving appliances provide “adequate thermal protection” capable of supporting survival for the Maximum Expected Time of Rescue (METR) — never less than five days in remote polar waters. While the 2026 amendments to the Polar Code primarily expanded navigation and voyage planning requirements to additional vessel types (fishing vessels ≥24m, small cargo ships, and large yachts),

In recent discussions about maritime safety, donning speed has taken center stage. New immersion suit designs emphasize faster closures, simplified components, and standardized sizing to reduce the time required to get protected during an emergency—an approach recently highlighted in gCaptain coverage of newly launched immersion suits focused on rapid deployment. This focus is understandable. In high-stress situations, seconds matter. Panic, poor visibility, vessel motion,

The International Maritime Organization’s Sub-Committee on Ship Systems and Equipment (SSE) plays a vital role in shaping the safety standards that govern vessels worldwide. From 10 to 14 March 2026, SSE 12 convened in London to review technical proposals on life-saving appliances (LSA), fire safety, and other ship systems. Bureau Veritas has published a clear summary of the meeting’s key outcomes. While the session advanced several important LSA items, it also underscores a

When a ship must be abandoned in polar waters, the difference between life and death is often measured in days, not hours. Traditional immersion suits were designed to keep a person afloat and somewhat warm for a short time — typically just long enough to reach a life raft or be rescued quickly. But in the Arctic and Antarctic, rescue can take far longer. The International Maritime Organization’s Polar Code recognizes this reality and requires survival equipment to support li

It’s measured in minutes. When a vessel is abandoned in polar or near‑polar waters, most people assume the danger begins hours later—once hypothermia sets in. In reality, the most decisive period occurs within the first 60 minutes , long before rescue assets arrive and long before exposure becomes prolonged. Understanding what actually happens during that hour explains why most immersion suits fail—and why the Arctic 10+ was designed differently from the start.] Minute 0–5: C