As sea ice retreats in the Bering Sea, the Arctic Ocean, and Arctic waters of the North Atlantic, fish and fishing vessels are moving further north.
To help keep fishermen and other seafarers safe in waters where the sea surface temperature can be in the 30s in August, the USA-based company White Glacier has introduced the Arctic 10+ immersion suit.
"The Arctic 10+ is the most advanced cold water protective suit available,” says Diego Jacobson, CEO of White Glacier. “It far exceeds regulatory requirements for buoyancy, thermal protection, fire protection, and jumping into the water from a height.”
According to Jacobson, the Arctic 10+ is built to keep a person alive for more than five days if necessary. “Because of its innovative design, the Arctic 10+ allows the users to remove the hands from within the suit to open the front zipper and have access to their hands,” he says. “This is important because it allows the users to eat, drink, and do first aid, as well as urinate while being protected with the built-in Splash tent. This splash tent protects the user from the wind, rain, and waves and can be deployed while the suit is open or closed. It also allows the user to breathe warm air in the arctic conditions and the ability to sleep in the suit.”
Beyond the biological effects of cold on the human body, Jacobson notes that a user’s mental state is also important, and he believes the comfort of the Arctic 10+ can have a significant impact on their will to live. “If the user is in a restrictive suit,” he says. “And they’re feeling cold and wet; this can have a negative impact on their will to live.”
Jacobson notes that the Arctic 10+ is certified with the U.S. Coast Guard, Transport Canada, and MED as a regulation immersion suit. “It is the most advanced cold-water suit available today for cold-water regions such as Canada, Alaska, both coasts of the USA, northern Europe, South America, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica,” he says, pointing out, however, that White Glacier designed the Arctic 10 for survivability rather than simple compliance with regulations.
"The suit is made up of three layers,” says Jacobson. “The inner layer is the thermal protective layer made up of reflective-contained air; the second layer is made up of a film, which creates the water tightness of the suit, and the outer layer, we called the shell, is made out of an abrasion resist fabric, which is used to attach the light, the pockets, the reflective, tape, etc.”
White Glacier had the suit tested in a laboratory in Trondheim, Norway, as well as at the North Pole and the Canadian Arctic. “We saw excellent results,” says Jacobson. “The Arctic 10+ will comply with the Polar Code requirement to offer thermal protection from hypothermia for a minimum of five days. This is because search and rescue can take anywhere from eight hours to five days in these regions.”
The Arctic 10+ is manufactured in the USA and built to fit people from 63-745 inches and 110-330 pounds. “The Arctic 10+ is also available in Jumbo, Adult Small, Children, and Infant sizes,” says Jacobson.
