The decline of Arctic sea ice makes trans-Arctic transport possible in the summer, which increases the requirement of ice-strengthened vessels. Accurate estimation of ice resistance is necessary for ice-strengthened ship design and this process requires data on various ice properties. The objective of this study was to investigate the probabilistic characteristics of Arctic sea ice properties associated with estimations of ice resistance on ships. To achieve this aim, measurements of ice properties were collected from Arctic voyages conducted in the summers of 2008−2016. Ice thickness and ice concentration were observed along ship routes, and ice flexural strength and effective modulus were determined based on the physical properties of ice. The ice–hull kinetic friction coefficient was estimated according to ship velocity. Statistical analyses were conducted on these ice properties. The results showed that most ice properties can be described using existing statistical models (Burr XII, Beta, Gamma, and generalized extreme value distributions), with the exceptions of ice concentration, ice salinity and temperature, as well as friction coefficient. Furthermore, a Monte Carlo simulation was employed to estimate the ice resistance of a ship moving forward in a level ice zone based on a well-established empirical equation. The results showed that the distribution of ice resistance conformed to a Gamma distribution. The correlation coefficients between ice density and flexural strength as well as effective modulus had negligible effects on the simulation results. This study provides a helpful guide for the design of ice-strengthened ships and related numerical simulations required for summer trans-Arctic navigation.

北极海冰的减少使得夏季跨北极运输成为可能，这增加了对冰加强型船舶的需求。冰抗力的准确估计对于冰强化船舶设计是必要的，这个过程需要有关各种冰特性的数据。本研究的目的是调查与估计船舶冰阻力相关的北极海冰特性的概率特征。为了实现这一目标，从 2008-2016 年夏季进行的北极航行中收集了冰特性的测量值。沿航线观测冰厚和冰浓度，根据冰的物理性质确定冰的抗弯强度和有效模量。根据船速估算冰船动摩擦系数。对这些冰特性进行了统计分析。结果表明，除了冰浓度、冰盐度和温度以及摩擦系数之外，大多数冰特性可以使用现有的统计模型（Burr XII、Beta、Gamma 和广义极值分布）来描述。此外，基于完善的经验方程，采用蒙特卡罗模拟来估计在水平冰区中前进的船舶的冰阻力。结果表明，冰阻分布符合伽马分布。冰密度与弯曲强度之间的相关系数以及有效模量对模拟结果的影响可以忽略不计。