The optimization design of the bow line of the polar icebreaker should consider not only the ice-breaking capacity when operating in ice areas but also the performance when sailing in open water. The sensitivity analysis of the ice resistance and the characteristic parameters of the bow of the polar icebreaker has been carried out based on the several empirical formulas for the ice resistance prediction. The value range of the bow characteristics parameters with the better ice-breaking capability are proposed for the optimization of the bow line with consideration of the resistance in open water. Through the verification of the resistance from the model test in open water and the ice resistance from the numerical simulation in ice areas, the resistance for the optimized scheme has an increase of about 2% at the design speed in open water, however, the ice resistance for the optimized solution decreases by 7% to 12% under the different thickness and different ice-breaking speed.