There has been an increased awareness of the benefits of utilizing inland waterways (IWW) from a transport efficiency and an emission control point of view. However, due to presence of ice in water bodies, vessels designed for non-ice river operations cannot operate during the winter months. This paper analyses a grillage representative of barge’s bow region using non-linear finite element analysis (NL FEA) and assesses survivability in comparison with load limits prescribed by latest Finnish Swedish Ice Class Rules (FSICR) 2017 rules, International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) Polar Cass 6 (PC6) rules and simplified plastic collapse limit states calculated by Daley (2002). The NLFEA study included strength contributions from strain hardening and membrane stress and it was found that the limit state described by rupture stress was significantly larger. It was found that allowance for plasticity can reduce structural scantling requirements for fresh water ice operating vessels. The study also validated latest FSIRCR 2017 requirements.