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Canada opts for Arctic patrol ships United States cries foul in resource-rich region that includes Northwest Passage, which U.S. claims is international territory Gary Park For Petroleum News
The Canadian government will spend C$3.1 billion reinforcing its Arctic sovereignty claims, with an eye on one of the world’s largest untapped oil and natural gas resources in a region that includes the Northwest Passage, which the United States claims is international territory.
Canada will build six to eight ice-strengthened patrol vessels at an unnamed Canadian shipyard and expects to spend another C$4.3 billion to procure, repair and refit the ships over their 25-year lifespan.
Delivery of the first ship is not expected until 2013.
A new deepwater northern resupply and refueling port will be developed, with four locations favored — Resolute and Cambridge Bay along the Northwest Passage, or Kimmirut and Iqaluit on the Arctic’s extreme east coast.
But the program falls far short of the pledge made by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in the last federal election campaign to purchase three armed icebreakers to operate year-round in the North.
Instead, the patrol ships will be limited to warm-weather missions.
Critic: Canada needs regular Arctic presence That concerns Michael Byers, an international law professor at the University of British Columbia, who said it is crucial for Canada to replace its aging icebreakers to establish a regular presence in the Arctic.
He said Russia and the United States operate heavy icebreakers that can enter Arctic waters claimed by Canada at virtually any time.
Harper, while acknowledging the patrol vessels don’t meet his election promise, said the new ships are versatile, with the ability to navigate major rivers as well as the coasts. He said the decision to shift from heavy icebreakers to patrol vessels was made after the Department of National defense and his office examined various options, and that the government opted for a more versatile fleet than heavy icebreakers because there is little need to patrol the area during the winter when ice prohibits shipping through the route.
Canada’s patrol ships will have steel-reinforced hulls that will be able to go through ice a foot thick and will be armed and equipped with helicopter landing pads to accommodate new helicopters being purchased by the Canadian military.
In making the announcement July 9, Harper emphasized the emerging economic role of the Arctic, noting that development of northern oil, gas and mineral resources “will grow ever more critical to our country.”
Harper said it is well known that other countries — notably Russia and the United States — are eager to access Arctic resources, challenging aspects of Canada’s sovereignty claims.
“Canada has a choice when it comes to defending our sovereignty over the Arctic,” he said. “We either use it or lose it. And make no mistake, this government intends to use it.
“The world is changing. The ongoing discovery of the North’s resource riches, coupled with the potential impact of climate change, has made the region an area of growing interest and concern.”
Liberal party defense spokesman Denis Coderre said Harper missed the chance to present a more detailed policy of how Canada might make its Arctic claims stick. “It should have been more global,” he said.
U.S. ambassador declines to comment U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins has criticized Harper’s promise to defend the Arctic, claiming the Northwest Passage as “neutral waters.” But Wilkins declined to comment on July 9 following Harper’s announcement, said U.S. Embassy spokesman James Foster.
“It’s an international channel for passage,” Foster said of the disputed waterway.
Commercial ships can shave off some 2,480 miles (3,990 kilometers) from Europe to Asia compared with current routes through the Panama Canal.
The disputed route runs from the Atlantic to the Pacific through the Arctic archipelago. It gained fame among European explorers who longed to find the shorter route to China, but found it rendered inhospitable and practically impassable due to ice and harsh weather.
The search for the fabled Northwest Passage frustrated explorers for centuries, beginning with John Cabot’s voyage in 1497. Eventually it became clear that a passage did exist, but was too far north to be useful.
Cabot died in 1498 while trying to find it and the shortcut eluded famous explorers Henry Hudson and Francis Drake.
British Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin and 128 handpicked officers and men perished mysteriously in 1845 on their expedition. Franklin’s disappearance prompted one of history’s largest rescue searches from 1848 to 1859, which resulted in the discovery of a passage.
No sea crossing was successful until Roald Amundsen of Norway took three seasons to complete his trip in an ice-strengthened ship from 1903-1906.
Canadians have long claimed the waters. But their government has generally tolerated the United States sending naval vessels and submarines through what it considers an international strait.
The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says the ice cap is warming faster than the rest of the planet and ice is receding, partly due to greenhouse gases.
Asserts claim to entrance at Hans Island Canada also wants to assert its claim over Hans Island, which is at the eastern entrance to the Northwest Passage.
The half-square-mile rock is wedged between Canada’s Ellesmere Island and Danish-ruled Greenland, and for more than 20 years has been a subject of unusually bitter exchanges between the two NATO allies.
In 1984, Denmark’s minister for Greenland affairs, Tom Hoeyem, caused a stir when he flew in on a chartered helicopter, raised a Danish flag on the island, buried a bottle of brandy at the base of the flagpole and left a note saying: ``Welcome to the Danish island.’’
The dispute flared again two years ago when former Canadian Defense Minister Bill Graham set foot on the rock while Canadian troops hoisted the Maple Leaf flag.
Denmark sent a letter of protest to Ottawa, while Canadians and Danes took out competing Google ads, each proclaiming sovereignty over the rock 680 miles south of the North Pole.
Some Canadians even called for a boycott of Danish pastries.
—The Associated Press contributed to this article
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