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3. Speed. — The short navigable season of the Western Arctic makes 

 speed a necessity, in order to take full opportunity of every patch of 

 open water. 



4. Endurance. — Endurance is another quality of prime importance, 

 in view of the large distances that often must be traversed through 

 ice in making good a course between two ports. 



5. Maneuverability. — A relatively short, beamy vessel is considered 

 easiest to handle in ice. The trim of the vessel must also be carefully 

 adjusted. 



6. Shallow draft. — The necessity of taking shelter in the shallow 

 bays and inlets, and the desirability of being able to work between 

 grounded ice floes and the shore, imposes a maximum limit of 12-foot 

 draft for vessels in this area. Even the Maud which, after weather- 

 ing several years of navigation north of Siberia, was then bought 

 by the Hudson's Bay Co., proved unsuitable for work in Northern 

 Canada because she drew more than this. 



The motorship Fort Ross of the Hudson's Bay Co. is a good example 

 of this class of vessel. Built of wood in Nova Scotia in 1938, she 

 measures 128.4 x 24.4 x 12.7 feet, registers 272 tons gross, and draws 

 11 feet 8 inches fully loaded. She has a single monel screw, driven 

 by a 240-horsepower Fairbanks-Morse Diesel. 



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