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An emerging new era for Arctic shipping
An increasing amount of shipping activity in the Arctic and the successful operation of a system in which icebreaking tankers ship oil from a terminal at the Russian port of Varandey on the Barents sea coast are all indicators of significant changes in Arctic maritime activity, Lawson Brigham, distinguished professor of geography and Arctic policy at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, told the International Association for Energy Economics’ North American conference on July 31.
“This is the new maritime Arctic that we’re dealing with,” Brigham said.
The Earth’s warming climate is causing profound change in the Arctic Ocean as the sea ice responds to that warming, Brigham said. But, although thick multiyear sea ice is gradually being replaced by thin first-year ice, it is misleading to think of the Arctic as becoming free of ice, he cautioned. Although the minimum ice extent at the end of the summer ice melt has been shrinking, there is an extensive ice cover in the region for nine or 10 months of the year. And winter temperatures in the central Arctic Ocean continue to be very low.
“It’s not ice free,” Brigham said. “We have 2,200 nautical miles across the top of the world and the ice is a profound and complex barrier to ships and (oil) platforms and whatever.”
Consequently, it remains essential to have ships and platforms intended for use in the Arctic designed to meet international standards for Arctic operations, he said.
No Arctic regulations However, while interest in Arctic offshore resources and the potential for Arctic marine transportation is driving increased Arctic shipping, the International Maritime Organization, the United Nations agency for shipping safety, has no regulations for international shipping in the Arctic. Russia and Canada have their own regional systems for oversight of Arctic maritime activities. But the United States has no specific standards for shipping in the waters offshore the Alaska Arctic coast, Brigham said.
And only seven to eight percent of the Arctic Ocean has been charted to international standards, he said. Completing the charting of the ocean to the standards appropriate to safe navigation would likely take more than a century to complete, while the charting of Alaska waters would require significant federal funding through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, he said.
An Arctic marine shipping assessment completed by the Arctic Council for the period 2004 to 2009 found that, with global economics driving an upsurge in Arctic marine transportation, many countries around the world have taken an interest in the Arctic Ocean. The shipping assessment made 17 recommendations around three main themes: the need for a polar code for ship structural standards, marine safety gear, crew training and navigation; the need to protect the Arctic people and environment from oil spills and harmful emissions; and the current lack of a modern infrastructure in the Arctic, including ports, oil spill response capacity, communications technology and salvage capabilities, Brigham said.
—Alan Bailey
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