US icebreaker heads to Antarctic to help stuck ships

[mb7050]

of course the hull shape must be different on an icebreaker. an icebreaker must have a bow shaped like a spoon so it can use the weight of the ship to crush the ice. the rest of the hull has to be shaped in a way that it can go through ice efficiently. obviously it has to be a very strong structure. etc etc .....
sure its not all about the thickness of the hull or bilge pylons

just simply looking at the specs of these icebreakers its safe to say the USA has the most powerful non-nuclear icebreakers in the world, the polar class icebreakers they can break over 6 feet 1.8 m of ice continuously at 3 knots but the polar class is no match for the Russian nuclear arktika-class icebreakers. the Russian nuke icebreaker 50 LP for example , considered the strongest in the world, can break upwards of ten feet or 3 meters continuously at much higher speed. Its much longer and wider has more power and like twice as heavy.. vs polar star. These Russian arktika-class icebreakers also have all kinds of neat tricks to aid icebreaking like the air bubbling system that can help to lubricate the hull and help in the breakup of ice. and the water ballast system that can rock the ship...

[Alex3000gt]

it's not about the thickness of the hull, it's about the shape.