Securing the Arctic

By BJ

The greatly diminished extent of the Arctic sea ice means that a lot more ships are beginning to sail into what at one time was considered impassable waters, which is beginning to create some security concerns.

It's not that easy for hundreds of outsiders to suddenly sneak up on Barrow, considering how the northernmost town in the United States has neither a port nor a road to help them get here. Newcomers pretty much have to arrive on a big noisy plane.

Which is why nearly everyone in this historic Inupiat community was surprised last fall when they woke up to find about 400 German tourists walking around town. How the heck did they get here?

The answer?

They sailed from Europe to Barrow the short way -- via the suddenly ice-free Canadian Arctic -- after the fabled Northwest Passage opened completely last summer for the first time in recorded history.

"Yes, that was a surprise," North Slope Borough Mayor Edward Itta said Thursday, standing on the Barrow airport tarmac.

But not just for the townspeople. Commanders with the U.S. Coast Guard stationed far to the south in Juneau and Kodiak were surprised as well.

"They said, 'What Germans? What cruise ships?' " Itta recalled with a laugh. "And I said, 'They're here.' "

Now, it is interesting to discover that America's Arctic defences are more or less the same as what Canada has. "Like, uh, we'd appreciate it if you'd let us know if you're gonna be in the area, eh." However, it is becoming apparent that such measures are probably insufficient for an Arctic Ocean that is becoming increasingly navigable and popular as a cruise destination, and as such, Arctic nations are beginning to respond.

A Danish admiral is adding his voice to Canadian calls for better safety regulation of Arctic shipping as recreational sailing and tourist cruises in northern waters reach record levels.

Rear Admiral Henrik Kudsk of Denmark's Greenland Command told an international conference in Alaska this week there should be mandatory requirements for equipment and preparation before vessels are entitled to sail into the Arctic.

. . .

In Greenland, Kudsk said he's expecting 45 cruise ships carrying 55,000 passengers — a 60 per cent increase from last year.

No nation has enough search and rescue capability to deal with a disaster on ships of that size, Kudsk said. The best solution is to have those ships sail near enough to help each other out.

. . .

"The danger of any kind of ship accident in the Arctic is we won't be able to clean up the mess," said Dennis Bevington, the New Democrat MP for the Western Arctic who attended the conference in Fairbanks.

Ensuring ships in the North are properly equipped and able to withstand ice would protect both lives and the fragile Arctic environment, he said.

Of course, the Canadian government at least, is far longer on rhetoric than results when it comes to Arctic issues, and it may just take a cruise ship disaster of Titanic proportions to point out to everyone just how scarce, isolated, and under-resourced the Arctic coastline truly is. The only sure thing at the moment is that sea traffic is increasing rapidly, and so we'd better figure out a way to deal with it.

Comments

[Cheryl Rofer]

Or those Russians.

Hey! The next neocon scare cry: Last week Tskhinvali, next week Barrow!

[BJ Bjornson]

I wouldn't put it past them Cheryl, and I can't even really say much bad about it given the community I live in probably wouldn't even exist as it does today if it weren't for the earlier Red Scare.