Rutter Inc. Signs $1.4 Million Funding Contract for Ice Navigation and Detection Radar Research and Development.
Canadian-based Rutter Inc. will receive $1.4 million in funding from Petroleum Research Newfoundland and Labrador under its Arctic & Harsh Environments strategic focus area. The funds will be used to build and test an advanced radar system that is capable of providing enhanced ice navigation and detection.
The integrated dual polarized ice navigation and detection radar is expected to help operators distinguish between the much harder multi-year ice and first-year ice, a major challenge for vessels operating in ice‐infested waters. Research has shown that multi-year ice responds differently to radar signals from first-year ice and the radar enhancement gives the operator the ability to make immediate and informed decisions on navigation. This advancement in radar technology builds on Rutter's sigma S6 Ice Navigator system.
"With increasing commercial, marine, and oil and gas activities offshore Canada and in Arctic regions, significant benefits can be gained from improved sea ice characterization, tracking and management," says Fraser Edison, President and CEO of Rutter. "Our goal with this research is to help make navigation through ice- infested waters safer and easier for the end user."