Polar heavy icebreaker is the key supporting equipment for polar merchant shipping, rescue support, scientific investigation and resource exploitation. The polar heavy breaker deserves special consideration in the application of high-strength steel and other special materials, the structural safety assessment under ice load and the hull structural layout, due to the high ice load compared with the medium and low ice class polar ships/icebreakers. The previous structural design experience for medium and low ice class polar ships cannot be arbitrarily applied to the polar heavy icebreaker. The structural design and evaluating experience of a PC2 polar heavy icebreaker that was developed by Marine Design & Research Institute of China (MARIC) are summarized. It focuses on the application of high strength steel for the ice belt structure, the application requirements and characteristics of composite steel plate for the ice belt outer plate, the impact of the non-linear evaluation technology on the ice belt scantlings, and the distribution of the ice-induced shear/bending moment and its influence on the structure in non-ice-belt regions, such as the inner platform of the main ship and the side hull of the bridge. It presents the structural design characteristics of the polar heavy icebreaker and the main differences between the polar heavy icebreaker and the medium and low ice class polar ships/icebreakers in terms of the overall structural layout and the design and evaluation of the ice belt structure. With the increase of the ice class, it is believed that the ice load not only affects the outer plate and its attached components in the ice belt region, but also has significant impact on the material selection of the ice belt structure and the overall structural layout and design of the whole ship.