USCG might regulate Bering Strait shipping

The U.S. Coast Guard has begun a study to see whether new measures are needed to control ship traffic through the Bering Strait, the narrow and icy waterway separating Alaska and Russia.

“Since 2007’s record minimum for summer sea ice cover in the Arctic, international attention has been focused on the region and its potential accessibility for shipping and natural resource exploration,” says a Coast Guard notice published Nov. 8 in the Federal Register. “One significant study released in April 2009 by the Arctic Council entitled ‘Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment’ noted both the sparse nature of aids to navigation in the United States Arctic as well as the absence of vessel routing measures in the Bering Strait. According to the study, significant increases in shipping are not expected in the near term. However, the U.S. Coast Guard desires to begin its study process so that essential safeguards are in place in advance of any future shipping increase.”

The Coast Guard says its two-year study might recommend new vessel routing measures for the strait. These could include, for example, a traffic separation scheme, deep-draft routes, no-anchor areas or designated areas to be avoided.

Predictable and charted vessel routing can help reduce congestion and “may decrease the potential for collisions, oil spills, and other events that could threaten the marine environment,” the notice said.

The Coast Guard’s Juneau command is conducting the study, and public comments are invited. To read the notice and to submit a comment online, go to www.regulations.gov and use docket number USCG-2010-0833.

—Wesley Loy