Are Canada’s Coast Guard Icebreakers Ready?

Date: 21 Feb 2017
Source: http://maritime-executive.com/article/are-canadas-coast-guard-icebreakers-ready

As the ice is receding in the Arctic, human activity has been on the rise. Will Canada’s Coast Guard icebreakers be there when we need them? Pierre Leblanc, a retired colonel and a former commander of the Canadian Forces in the Arctic, would like to see more icebreakers in operation:

The temperature at the North Pole on December 22, 2016, was 32F (0C), up some 36F (20C). Nature is baffling scientists by what seems to be an accelerating warming of the Arctic and the predictable impact on sea ice. That and the summer 2016 voyage through the Northwest Passage of the Crystal Serenity with more than 1,600 souls on board, and the Chinese plans to use the Northwest Passage should cause us to have a closer look at our fleet of icebreakers to see if we are prepared to deal with the massive changes taking place in the Arctic and our international commitments.

When I was the commander of the Joint Task Force North, my Canadian Coast Guard colleagues used to jest about the need for more icebreakers by saying, “Less ice means more icebreakers, more ice also means more icebreakers.”

On the surface, it is counterintuitive until you realize that when there is less ice, that ice will move around unpredictably and will strand vessels that will then need an icebreaker to free them. As the ice disappears, Arctic maritime traffic will continue to increase and the possibility of vessels becoming icebound will also increase.

What alarms me at the moment is that our fleet of the seven icebreakers that are deployed in the Arctic has either passed or is approaching its end of service, with only one known planned new Arctic-capable icebreaker, the CCG Diefenbaker, to be built by Seaspan Marine Corporation as part of the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy. It is planned to be in service by 2025.

Compare this with the Russians who have more icebreakers than the rest of the world combined, including nuclear-powered icebreakers. The Russian navy has its own icebreaker. Even the Americans are now realizing that their part of the Arctic is seeing increased maritime traffic and that they are ill prepared with only one operational icebreaker.

The IMO has developed the Polar Code for vessels operating in the polar regions which took effect January 1, 2017. This code is welcomed in that it establishes minimum requirements for vessels operating in our Canadian Arctic. Although the Polar Code could have more stringent requirements, it is a significant first step in the right direction. The question is: who will monitor such standards and enforce the Polar Code in the Canadian Arctic?

On several occasions I saw our Canadian Coast Guard vessels in their vivid red and white colors displaying our maple leaf. In addition to our Inuit communities in the Arctic, they represent our best physical presence during the shipping season. In the not too distant future they will be accompanied by Canadian Forces Arctic Offshore Patrol Vessels, although the latter will not have a medium icebreaking capability.

One of the main functions of the Canadian Coast Guard has been to support the resupply of our northern communities. It has been said often that sovereignty presence starts with healthy Arctic communities. Their resupply is therefore an essential service.

Part of the reason for our lack of accuracy in predicting climate change in the Arctic is the limited amount of research that has been conducted there. The coast guard vessels have been an integral part of the scientific research conducted in the Arctic. That includes the research required to support our claims for extended continental shelves under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea’s Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.

The Canadian Coast Guard icebreakers would also be instrumental in monitoring commercial fishing in the Arctic and the Arctic fishing moratorium that the Arctic Five (Russia, U.S., Canada, Denmark and Norway) wish to enforce until such time as there is sufficient science to understand what is sustainable.

Canada is also a signatory of the Arctic Council Agreement on Cooperation on Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue in the Arctic. Our Canadian Coast Guard vessels and their helicopters are key search and rescue assets in the Arctic. If our fleet is not replaced, how would we meet this international agreement?

Canada is also a signatory of the Arctic Council 2011 Agreement on Cooperation on Marine Oil Pollution and Response in the Arctic. Without a sizeable icebreaker fleet, how would we meet our obligations to monitor and respond to an incident?

As the ice is receding in the Arctic, human activity has been on the rise. Will our coast guard icebreakers be there when we need them?

This article originally appeared in The Hill Times and is reproduced with permission.

The opinions expressed herein are the author’s and not necessarily those of The Maritime Executive.

What Will It Cost for the North to Adapt to a Changing Climate?

Date: 21 Feb 2017
Source: https://www.newsdeeply.com/arctic/articles/2017/02/21/what-will-it-cost-for-the-north-to-adapt-to-a-changing-climate?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=ArcticDeeply&utm_content=What%20Will%20It%20Cost%20for%20the%20North%20to%20Adapt%20to%20a%20Changing%20Climate%3F

TEMPERATURES IN THE Arctic are warming twice as fast as the global average. Sea ice and permafrost are melting. Precipitation is increasing, while winter snow cover declines.

The impacts of climate change in the North are well-known by now. The Arctic is a sort of canary in a coal mine, frequently used by climate scientists urging people to take global warming seriously.

But the actual cost of those impacts in northern Canada, and the cost of adapting to them, is still unclear.

“I think we’re at the early stages of tackling economic impacts of climate change challenges,” said Al Douglas, director of the Ontario Centre for Climate Impacts and Adaptation Resources. “Maybe one could say that there just needs to be more interest in this.”

Douglas said it’s hard to make a business case for investing in adaptation – building roads and houses that can withstand melting permafrost, for instance – without first knowing how much it’ll cost to do nothing.

“We risk not investing in adaptation,” he said. “It’s now that adaptation is really needed.”

In 2011, Canada’s National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE) published a report that estimated the cost of climate change across the country. It found that costs could rise from about $3.8billion (CAN$5 billion) annually in 2020 to between $16 billion to $33 billion a year by the 2050s.

But the NRTEE was shut down in 2013 by the former Conservative government, and Douglas said little has been done since to follow up.

He believes those economic analyses are best done at the provincial or territorial level for greater accuracy, but that hasn’t been happening.

“I have not seen anything like that from the regions of Canada,” he said.

Still, there have been smaller-scale studies here and there, including in the North.

In 2015, the Yukon Research Centre at Yukon College published a studythat calculated the cost of maintaining a winter mine access road built over frozen lakes in the Northwest Territories.

The centre is now preparing another report on the costs and benefits of different types of housing foundations that protect buildings from being damaged by thawing permafrost. The research was based in remote communities in the Yukon and Nunavut.

“I think having cost analysis can show where it’s better to think long term and invest more money upfront,” said Alison Perrin, the project coordinator.

But she said broader studies would be useful, either at the territorial or pan-northern level.

“I know that there’s an interest in it, and it’s kind of bad that there hasn’t been more work across northern Canada,” she said. “And I think that’ll change.”

Perrin and Douglas both said estimating the cost of climate change is tricky, because it’s hard to predict the future.

“It’s really difficult to do this sort of analysis because climate change can go in different directions,” Douglas said.

But it’s not impossible.

A paper published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in December 2016 found that climate-related damage to infrastructure in Alaska could cost up to $5.5 billion by the end of the century. Much of the damage would be caused by roads flooding and permafrost melting beneath buildings.

The researchers also found that proactive adaptation – installing culverts beneath roads to prevent flooding, for example – could reduce that cost by $2.6 billion.

“This type of work is important because we know that infrastructure damages from climate change are already occurring,” lead author April Melvin wrote in an email to Arctic Deeply. “So, having some idea of what it could cost can inform decisions and future planning.”

Melvin said a comparable study should be possible in northern Canada. She said the information needed includes climate projections and data about the distribution of permafrost and infrastructure across the country.

But, even in the U.S., this type of research is relatively new. Melvin said there’s only one other study she knows of that has estimated climate-related costs in Alaska.

Douglas said part of the issue is that the public has been focused on carbon pricing and other methods of cutting emissions.

But he said it’s not enough just to focus on polluting less. “What happens if we do our part and other countries don’t?” he asked.

He pointed out that even if the whole world stopped burning fossil fuels right now, we would still feel the impacts of climate change for decades to come.

Douglas believes that’s why it’s so important for Canada to think about adaptation today – not just about meeting emissions targets.

“It’s imperative,” he said. “It’s just imperative.”

Russia and North America Diverge on Arctic Resources

Date: 3 Feb 2017
Source: https://www.newsdeeply.com/arctic/community/2017/02/03/russia-and-north-america-diverge-on-arctic-resources

Russia and North America Diverge on Arctic Resources — Arctic Deeply <link rel=”stylesheet” media=”all” href=”//newsdeeply-www.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/application-25010fd27cc34e71830e6745db2cc106e0ed0e61924e7fb6542aa5d82c79cb19.css” />

Most people talk of the Arctic as if it is one homogenous region. “The Arctic is melting.” “The Arctic is a treasure trove of resources.” “The Arctic is a region of peace and cooperation.” These are just a few of the refrains heard whenever the Arctic is discussed.

The reality is that there are multiple Arctics. This is especially true in regard to Arctic oil and gas production. Since the publication of the well-known 2008 United States Geological Survey study of oil and gas reserves, most people have discussed Arctic oil and gas as if it was one consistent entity. Events in December 2016 and January 2017 demonstrated how wrong this thinking is.

On December 20, 2017, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. president Barack Obama announced that their countries were banning oil and gas development in their northern waters – the U.S. indefinitely and Canada for a five-year period. One month later, on January 18, 2017, Russian president Vladimir Putin announced the opening of several major oil and gas pipelines that will bring large amounts of oil and gas from their northern fields in Yamal into production. One of these pipelines will double the capacity of the Nord Stream that connects Russian Arctic gas production to Germany. So, as Canada and the United States decide not to develop their Arctic offshore oil and gas, Russia is moving forward with growing intensity to develop its resources.

This not only highlights the differences that exist in oil and gas development regimes, but also in the thinking of the leadership of all three countries.

The decision taken by the Obama administration can be seen as part of Obama’s effort to consolidate his legacy as an American president focused on issues relating to the protection of the environment and climate. However, the timing of the decision in the final days of his presidency suggests that the decision will not be one that lasts.

The reasons behind the Canadian five-year moratorium on oil and gas offshore development are a little harder to understand, given the fact that there was limited public discussion regarding the possibility of such a move. However, the current Liberal government has been facing challenges in maintaining its efforts to be seen as environmentally focused while ensuring that its energy sector is able to maintain itself. This may reflect its efforts to respond to environmental concerns as it moves to approve the development of pipelines elsewhere in the country.

The Russian decision, meanwhile, demonstrates Putin’s commitment to maximize the development of northern resources. It also shows his determination to break the impact of the sanctions currently imposed on Russia by increasing energy exports to Germany.

Ultimately, the decisions made by the North American governments – regardless of what happens at the end of the five-year period for Canada and any efforts on the part of the new Trump administration to overturn the American decision – mean that there will be no oil and gas development on the North American side of the Arctic for this foreseeable future. Meanwhile, Russia will be poised to become a dominant producer of Arctic oil and gas and will move ahead in the necessary knowledge and technology.

It is also clear that Russia will be able to further integrate itself economically with Europe – and, one suspects, the Asian markets. It is interesting to note that while European-based environmental groups have been vocal in their efforts to stop North American development of new Arctic offshore oil and gas resources, there seems to have been a much more muted response to the Russians.

Furthermore, the Russian Bovanenkovo-Ukhta gas pipeline opened in January feeds directly into the Nord Stream system. This means that the added production does not pass through Ukraine, which eliminates the ability of that country to interfere in the Russian supply to Germany. It also means that Germany’s dependence on Russian oil has just increased. At what point does increased gas production eliminate the German appetite to maintain sanctions?

Perhaps the decisions made by all three countries have one thing in common, which is that they ultimately demonstrate the power of their national leaders. Motivations may differ, but what is striking is the power that all three have in enforcing their own particular vision.

There is growing criticism in Canada and the United States that the December announcement did not follow consultations with any of the three premiers of Canada’s northern territories. Concerns have also been raised by some of the northern Indigenous organizations that they were not involved in the decision-making process. Commentators such as Nils Andreassen of the Institute of the North have also pointed out that there were minimal consultations within Alaska on the American decision. There is no evidence that the Russian leadership had any meaningful consultations with its northern inhabitants, either.

What this suggests is that decisions – whether for or against oil and gas development – will be made by the leader of the state and not the people of the affected region. So while it is clear that it is now impossible to talk of one Arctic when talking of oil and gas, it still remains possible to talk of one Arctic in terms of governance.

 

Russia’s Evolving Arctic Capabilities

Date: 7 Feb 2017
Source: http://maritime-executive.com/editorials/russias-evolving-arctic-capabilities

Far from the battlegrounds of East Ukraine and Syria another confrontation with Russia is brewing. As the Arctic ice retreats countries with claims in the Arctic are more willing to extract the resources found in this inhospitable location. The U.S. estimates the Arctic seabed is home to about 15 percent of the world’s remaining oil, up to 30 percent of its natural gas deposits, and about 20 percent of its liquefied natural gas. Like the U.S., Canada, Denmark and Norway, Russia has its own claim on a section of the Arctic which it is now looking to defend and expand. Today we are witnessing a resurgent Russia in the Arctic, deploying more troops and equipment to the Arctic in support of its claims.

The Cold History

There is a long history of territorial claims around the North Pole; Canada was the first to claim sovereignty over vast areas of the arctic in 1925. This was followed by the Soviet Union in 1926 which claimed an area stretching from Murmansk, east to the Chukchi Peninsula and north, towards the North Pole including both the Mendeleev and Lomonosov Ridges. This was followed by claims from the U.S., Norway, and Demark that where never internationally recognized until 1999 and the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). UNCLOS, the melting ice caps, and the vast amounts of natural resources on the sea floor are the root causes of current Arctic confrontations.

Under the provisions of UNCLOS, states have ten years after treaty ratification to claim and extend territorial limits beyond the 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone provided by the convention. Russia ratified UNCLOS in 1997 and had until 2007 to apply for a concession. Whilst Russia has always looked at the Arctic as an integral part of Russian identity (indeed until the collapse of the Soviet Union, Moscow maintained a large presence in the Arctic), it was Vladimir Putin who revived Russian ambitions in the Arctic. In December 2001, Russia applied for an extension of territory, claiming that the Lomonosov Ridge is an extension of the Siberian continental shelf and therefore entitles Russia to a bigger claim in the Arctic. However, this was inconclusive and the UN commission neither rejected nor accepted Russia’s proposal, citing a need for more research.

In the face of the melting icepack the Russian administration has declared the Arctic a region of strategic importance for Russia; due to both the potential Northern Sea Route as well as the energy and rare earth element reserves under the ice. Since 2002, Russia has sent expeditions in support of it claims over Lomonosov Ridge, including a 2007 expedition that planted a Russian flag on the seabed. Vladimir Putin has also taken the bold step of increasing Russian military presence in the inhospitable north.

Icebreaker Development

Icebreakers are the cornerstone of any capability in the Arctic. Icebreakers have multiple uses from resupplying far-flung communities and outposts to scientific exploration, search and rescue, and ensuring that sea lines remain ice-free for shipping. They are the backbone of any presence in the Arctic, both military and civilian. In this department Russian Arctic capabilities are significant, especially when compared to those of other Western claimants.

 

Russia has as many as 40 icebreakers, both nuclear powered and conventional (see table below). Although some of these vessels are relatively old, with many of them built during the Soviet era, Russia also has various new designs under construction. In total, there are currently some 14 icebreakers of various types being built in Russia.

Of particular interest are the LK-60Ya nuclear ice breakers and Arc-7 LNG carriers. Three LK-60Yas are under construction; the first (the Arktika) was launched in June 2016 and will be commissioned in 2018 with others commissioning in 2019 and 2020. These vessels are intended for use in the Northern Sea Route along Russia’s Arctic coast and are capable of breaking through ice over nine feet thick.

The development of LNG and oil carrying ice-capable tankers is an area of particular economic interest for Russia. In this area, Russia is collaborating with Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering in South Korea and an international consortium for the construction of the first Arc 7 ice-classed LNG carriers. The aim is to reliably deliver the LNG produced from the Yamal LNG project in the Yamal Peninsula.

Military Development

Icebreakers are not the only things Russia is constructing to help it control the Arctic. All along its northern frontier Russia has begun rebuilding and reoccupying its military bases, some of which have not been used since the end of the Cold War. Russia is upgrading its docking facilities in Murmansk, one of the few ports which is ice free year round and home to Russia’s nuclear icebreaker fleet, to provide more space for the larger nuclear icebreaker and submarine fleets.

Aerial facilities are also being upgraded to improve coverage over the Arctic. Since 2015 Russia has equipped six new bases in the region, both on the mainland and on islands. These have included airbases on the islands of Franz Josef Land, Severnaya Zemlya, Wrangel Island, Kotelny Island and Novaya Zemlya. On the mainland, the facilities at Mys Shmidta, including the port and the airport, are also being upgraded.

Moreover, the Russian Navy has stepped up its presence in the Arctic with a permanent base on Kotelny Island and in 2016 when it started using new facilities on Alexandra Land. Beyond the ability to conduct search and rescue operations and support other Russian forces operating in the Arctic (mainly through the use of submarine forces), the Navy is also looking to stop infiltration by other powersinto sovereign Russian territory.

Weapons-wise, Moscow has deployed two long range S-400 regiments to Novaya Zemlya and the port of Tiksi alongside short range surface-to-air Pantsir-S1 systems to protect them. Arctic bases have also been reinforced with P-800 Oniks supersonic anti-ship missiles, although the number of these systems present in the Arctic remains unclear.

Ground forces are being deployed to the region as well. The 99thArctic Tactical Group has been permanently deployed to Kotelny Island to protect and aid in the construction of the airfield and piers there. Two other formations, the 200th Independent Motor Rifle Brigade and the 80th Independent Motor Rifle Brigade, have been converted into Arctic Brigades. Both formations appear stationed in the Murmansk Oblast and seem to be equipped with two-tiered tractors, snowmobiles and other vehicles, including the DT-30P Vityaz articulated track vehicle. Allegedly, these troops receive reconnaissance, airborne, and mountain training.

All these elements are under the command of Russia’s Arctic Joint Strategic Command, recently formed in December 2014. This command is responsible for the training and operational employment of Russian assets in the region; including all combat units, radar stations, airfields and support units. Northern Fleet units based at Kotelny Island also fall under the authority of this command.

Russian will continue to build new facilities in the future. A large year-round airbase is being built on the New Siberian Islands Archipelago, which will enable the deployment of Tu-95MS and Tu-160 bomber and the stealth PAK DA bomber in the future. A network of 10 Arctic Search and rescue stations, 16 deep-water ports, 12 new airfields and 10 air-defense radar stations is planned. The Russian Defense Ministry also recently announced it will build over 100 infrastructure facilities in the Arctic by the end of 2017. Together, these units and facilities will allow Russia to maintain a watchful eye over the Arctic, its oil reserves and, in the future, maritime shipping.

Conclusion

Russia has developed its Arctic capabilities to a level that was inconceivable a couple of years ago – one that has not been seen since the end of the Soviet Union. Nor is there is any sign that Russia will stop here – in November 2016 Putin called for accelerating development of the Arctic region. Whatever the outcome, these huge investments in the Arctic leave Russia in a much better position to exploit the benefits brought by the melting ice fields.

Steve Micallef graduated from the University of Malta with a B.A. (Honors) in International Relations in 2015. He also holds an MSc in Strategic Studies from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. He currently works at Bugeja Geopolitical Consulting, Malta.

This article appears courtesy of CIMSEC and may be found in its original edition here.

Recap of recent exercise for oil pollution preparedness and response in the Arctic

Date: August 3, 2016
Source: http://mariners.coastguard.dodlive.mil/

Increased commercial maritime activity in the Arctic region requires enhanced spill response planning and preparedness in order to mitigate the challenges of oil spill response in the Arctic. Representatives from all eight Arctic member states work within various forums and working groups to mitigate risks and ensure safe, secure and environmentally responsible activities in the Arctic. One of these groups, the Arctic Council’s Working Group on Emergency Prevention, Preparedness, and Response (EPPR), specifically addresses the areas of marine environmental response and search and rescue for the Arctic marine environment.

The EPPR focuses much of its attention on exercising the Agreement on Cooperation on Marine Oil Pollution Preparedness and Response in the Arctic (MOSPA Agreement). The objective of the MOSPA Agreement is to strengthen cooperation, coordination and mutual assistance among the parties on oil pollution preparedness and response in the Arctic to protect the marine environment from pollution by oil. Efforts include the development of operational guidelines that designate notification and request (and offer) for assistance protocols in the event of an incident requiring multilateral coordination. The EPPR works to exercise and maintain this MOSPA Agreement by ensuring all eight Arctic nations remain engaged in multi-lateral discussions, which includes an annual exercise process.

The first exercise under the MOSPA Agreement was hosted by Canada in 2014, consisting of a communications exercise that simulated the notification of parties and the request for and receipt of offers of assistance.

In September 2015, the U.S. hosted the next phase of the EPPR MOSPA exercise cycle, a workshop held at U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters. The emphasis of this workshop focused on updates to the operational guidelines as well as the identification of the highest risk Arctic spill scenarios that could be utilized for the 2016 EPPR MOSPA table-top exercise.

From May 9 to June 13, 2016, the EPPR conducted a three-stage table-top exercise led by representatives from the U.S. Coast Guard’s Office of Marine Environmental Response. This exercise engaged EPPR member state representatives whose countries may be impacted by an oil spill that is large enough to require the implementation of the multilateral MOSPA Agreement and associated operational guidelines.

On May 9, the exercise began with a standard notification with international requests for assistance, followed by each state analyzing their internal protocols for offering assistance from May 11 to 20, 2016. Finally, nearly 40 participants including representatives from each EPPR member state, as well as permanent participants and observers, met on June 13, 2016, in Montreal to discuss the results of the notification and request for assistance exercise stages as well as make recommendations on enhancing this process.

As a result of this exercise, an EPPR Marine Environmental Response Experts Group will take the recommendations for action and move to improve the overall EPPR MOSPA Request for Assistance process.

The Exercise Design Team lead, Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Wes James noted that, “This exercise provided great insight into the partnership that is the EPPR. We worked together to build an exercise process that not only included the United States as the team lead, but also utilized a Norwegian scenario, hosted by Canada in Montreal, and was evaluated by representatives from Canada and Finland. By doing so, we created a better process that will continue to enhance this multi-lateral forum whose ultimate goal is to ensure the protection of the Arctic marine environment.”

 

 

Milestone for Canada’s Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships

Date: 14 June 2016
Source: http://www.marinelink.com/news/milestone-offshore411210.aspx

GE’s Marine Solutions business in Peterborough, Ontario is completing one of the first milestones of the company’s seven-year contract with Irving Shipbuilding Inc.,(ISI) to provide electrical power, propulsion systems, installation and commissioning services for six ice-capable Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships (AOPS) for the Royal Canadian Navy.

GE’s power and propulsion systems will position the new vessels amongst the highest performance in their class worldwide. Four diesel generators and engines have been shipped to ISI’s Halifax Shipyard, and GE has begun acceptance testing on the first AOPS propulsion motor, expected to ship in early July. GE suppliers located in Ontario are contributing to the project providing steel, skids, metal and machining.

“GE’s collaboration with Irving Shipbuilding Inc. (ISI) on this important large infrastructure project utilizing best-in-class technology, created an opportunity for developing a made-in-Canada solution and also delivered new business opportunities to our supply chain,” said Allan, GE Canada’s President and CEO.

The contract is part of the Government of Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS). To date, ISI has awarded over $526 million in contracts to companies in Ontario, generating over 3,500 direct and indirect jobs in the province. Across Canada, ISI has awarded over $1 billion in contracts as part of NSS.

“At Irving Shipbuilding, we believe that the innovative solutions Ontario companies, like GE, have to offer are vital to the growth and sustainment of Canada’s shipbuilding industry,” said Kevin McCoy, President, Irving Shipbuilding Inc. “As Canada’s chosen shipbuilder for Navy Combatants, we’re proud to engage companies across the country in building our Navy’s future fleet.”

During the past five years, GE, with assistance from the Province of Ontario, has modernized the Peterborough facility in order to increase the company’s opportunities to win new business contracts from a wide range of industries. This has included investments in innovation, and advanced manufacturing technology, along with site and building improvements. The ISI shipbuilding contract is one of the first significant business wins for GE resulting from these modernization efforts.

“GE has had a long standing commitment to the City and County of Peterborough and its residents,” said the Honorable Jeff Leal, MPP. “I am pleased that our government has partnered with GE in the past to protect jobs, create new ones and modernize the Peterborough facility. The modernization of the Peterborough Plant has positioned GE to be successful when bidding on new contracts. There is great potential for growth at the Peterborough plant and today’s announcement is proof that our investments are working.”

“GE Canada is a pillar of manufacturing, as well as an historic and significant employer in Peterborough-Kawartha. I am extremely proud that our community will benefit from Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy for the next six years and that well paid, quality jobs are being generated and maintained as a result. We are also proud that Peterborough-Kawartha is playing a role in supporting the women and men of our Royal Canadian Navy,” said the Honorable Maryam Monsef, MP Peterborough-Kawartha.

“The Arctic is an exciting and challenging new frontier for commercial shipping,” said Tim Schweikert, President & CEO, GE’s Marine Solutions. “The Royal Canadian Navy operates under some of the world’s most extreme weather and sea conditions making reliability a key factor. We are delighted that ISI has selected GE’s technology to deliver ice capable vessels that will play a significant role in the development of new global opportunities in the Arctic.”

This luxury cruise ship will soon sail through the Arctic. Here’s what that means for Alaska.

Date: 12 June 2016
Source: https://www.adn.com/arctic/2016/06/12/this-luxury-cruise-ship-will-soon-sail-through-the-arctic-heres-what-that-means-for-alaska/

This summer, an extravagant cruise ship voyage will make history, and it’s starting in Alaska.

A luxury vessel, the $350 million Crystal Serenity can carry up to 1,070 passengers and 655 crew members, and measures 820 feet long. On board, you’ll find a casino, a library, penthouses and shops with name brands like Gucci, Armani and Dior, among other countless amenities.

On Aug. 16, the ship, full of creature comforts, will set out to travel through one of the world’s harshest sea routes — the icy and isolated waters of the Northwest Passage through the Arctic Ocean. It will wind through narrow waters in far northern Canada as it sails for the first time from Seward to New York City — a 32-day voyage geared toward affluent world travelers.

All you need is about $22,000 to be a passenger. That’s on the cheaper end of the scale — it’s as much as $120,095 for the fanciest penthouse (but not to worry: even the lower-level penthouses come with personal butlers). Even if you can afford the trip, too bad — the cruise has been booked since shortly after tickets went on sale in 2014.

Such a voyage comes with specific challenges should something go wrong. Alaska is bracing for how it might handle the worst-case scenarios that might be unique to the unprecedented journey, which California-based Crystal Cruises says is the largest cruise ship ever to take this route.

Some communities in Alaska have been getting ready.

In Nome, Mayor Richard Beneville said the town has been planning for months to prepare itself for the largest infusion of tourists it has ever seen at once from a cruise.

“Without a doubt, Crystal Cruises’ Serenity is the largest one and is kind of a game changer,” Beneville said. “It’s indicating what’s going to be the future of transportation through the Bering Strait because of climate change.”

Beneville said that Nome is working closely with the Coast Guard to prepare for what to do in the case of an emergency with massive ships like the Crystal Serenity. But an upcoming training exercise there won’t happen until the day after the ship departs from Nome in August, which may seem counterintuitive.

“What they’re really concerned about is those areas north of Nome,” Beneville said.

Derek Martin, the city manager in Kotzebue, told Alaska Dispatch News last year that an emergency response to accommodate 1,700 people would “create a bit of chaos” in the town of about 3,200. The ship won’t be stopping there, or in Barrow, but those areas would be affected if passengers had to unexpectedly disembark and head to the nearest community.

The Coast Guard, over the past few years, has carried out rescue operation exercises and workshops or developed emergency plans for cities like Kotzebue, Nome, Barrow and others, for what to do in the face of things like a man-made incident or natural disaster. This preparation is part of what’s called Operation Arctic Shield, the Coast Guard’s seasonal deployment to the Arctic.

Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Jason Boyle said that while the agency doesn’t do any rescue drills just for one specific company or industry, the Coast Guard has used the Crystal Serenity as the basis for some rescue operation exercises.

“What we would do from an agency perspective, how you would evacuate people if there was an accident on a ship if it was somewhere in the Arctic,” he said. “We’ve walked through with the communities about what the challenges are if you were to have a number of people show up in your community, where do you shelter the people? How do you deal with medical injuries?”

As sea ice in the region continues to recede, more Coast Guard attention and resources will probably go to such exercises, said Cmdr. Mark Wilcox, Arctic operational coordinator for the agency.

Logistics and communication are the biggest hurdles when it comes to being prepared for the worst on routes like the one the Crystal Serenity will take, Wilcox said.

“Adapting to these constraints is the biggest challenge,” he said. “Communication is difficult in the Arctic; it’s more remote, the weather conditions are more extreme.”

Passengers on board the Crystal Serenity need to be prepared, too. They are required to get $50,000 in emergency evacuation insurance to cruise through the Northwest Passage. The ship will also be traveling with its own escort vessel, the RRS Ernest Shackleton, which has ice-breaking capabilities. That vessel will be complete with helicopters on board for safety purposes, and will join the cruise ship at the Canadian community of Uluhaktok.

Crystal Cruises isn’t the only company navigating the Northwest Passage. German company Hapag-Lloyd Cruises also has a Northwest Passage cruise that will depart in August and traverse Arctic waters around Canada and Greenland. Cargo ships have also made this voyage. Still, the Crystal Serenity appears poised to be the largest cruise ship to ever travel the route.

The company is wasting no time planning for next year — it has already announced another Northwest Passage voyage for summer 2017, and tickets are on sale.

Coast Guard icebreaker heads for Arctic Ocean

Date:10 June 2016
Source: http://www.thearcticsounder.com/article/1623in_brief

One of the U.S. Coast Guard’s two icebreakers is heading north for science.

According to a release from the Coast Guard, the Healy planned to leave Seattle on Tuesday for a four-month deployment to the Arctic Ocean.

The Healy’s crew will be working on three missions “focusing on the biology, chemistry, geology, and physics of the Arctic Ocean and its ecosystems, as well as [performing] multi-beam sonar mapping of the Extended Continental Shelf,” the Coast Guard wrote in a release.

On one of the missions, 46 researchers and scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Alaska Anchorage will work with Healy crewmembers to look at the biological diversity of the Chukchi Sea. They will use the Global Explorer, which is a remotely operated vehicle, to collect samples and take temperatures and other measurements.

Researchers from the Scripps Institute of Oceanography and the Office of Naval Research will use acoustic bottom moorings to collect data on sea ice extent and piece together a picture of what effect changes in ice and the polar climate is having on the marine ecosystem of the Arctic Ocean.

Finally, the third project, which is funded by NOAA and backed by the State Department and the White House Office of Science and Technology, will see researchers from the University of New Hampshire using “multi-beam sonar mapping and bottom dredging in the Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean to further support the demarcation of the Extended Continental Shelf,” wrote the Coast Guard.

This deployment is the Healy’s 10th continental shelf cruise. This will also be the eighth time the Coast Guard has worked on this type of mission in coordination with the Canadian Hydrographic Service.

Healy is the newest icebreaker in the U.S. fleet. The oldest is the Polar Star, which recently completed missions in Antarctica. The Healy is a 420-foot cutter with a permanent crew of 87 and is based in Seattle.

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2016 on track to break heat records in the Arctic

by Shady Grove Oliver

The Arctic Sounder

The warm winter North Slope residents experienced this year led to a warm spring which may lead to “record-breaking” melt this summer.

That’s according to scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who are keeping their eyes on the higher-than-average temperatures and record-setting warming and melt trends across the state.

At NOAA’s Barrow Observatory, staff recorded the earliest snowmelt on record on May 13. It broke the record set in 2002 by 10 days and is by far the earliest date in the 73 years since NOAA began keeping records for the area.

According to the administration, early information from the National Snow and Ice Data Center shows this year may also set the record for minimum winter sea-ice content in the Arctic, surpassing the record set last year.

Scientists are keeping their eyes on fish and wildlife species across the far north to see what effects the warm and dry conditions will have on their populations, NOAA says.

Changes in sea ice extent and thickness are already having an effect on polar bears and walruses and other land-based species are struggling with less snow cover on the ground.

Researchers are also monitoring wildfire risks, tundra green-up, and changing trends in the natural environment.

According to NOAA, with average temperatures more than 11 degrees above normal this winter in much of Alaska, it’s unclear at this point how far-reaching the effects of the warming trend will be as the year continues.

Bid to monitor traffic in Arctic waters hits snags

Date: Jan. 29, 2017
Source: https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/01/29/bid-to-monitor-traffic-in-arctic-waters-hit-snags.html

An eight-year effort to develop year-round surveillance capability in Canada’s melting Arctic waters was only ever able to monitor marine traffic remotely twice for a few weeks during the hospitable northern summers.

As Canada prepares to spend more than $130 million on new proposals to keep watch over the Arctic, the quiet conclusion reached by military scientists involved in the previous technology demonstration project was that constant tracking of the cruise ships, fishing vessels and hostile forces was a possibility — but a distant one.

“For the purposes of our tech demo, what we did was more in line with what we could afford to do,” Garry Heard, head of underwater surveillance and communications with Defence Research and Development Canada — the military’s science wing — told the Star in an interview.

The so-called Northern Watch project grew out of former prime minister Stephen Harper’s 2005 election pledge to create a “national sensor system” in the Arctic to monitor Canadian waters for submarines and other marine vessels.

Harper said it would allow Canada to assert sovereignty by forcing foreign ships to “ask our consent to traverse our waters.”

What scientists came up with were long strings of underwater sensors — known as arrays — that were laid along the seabed to collect acoustic readings. They were complemented by land-based cameras and sensors that pick up surface vessel movements, as well as satellite imagery, which provides only intermittent coverage.

The project was based at Gascoyne Inlet on Nunavut’s Devon Island — a place so barren that the island is also used as a simulated Mars habitat. The Barrow Strait, on the south shore of Devon Island, is an Arctic “chokepoint,” meaning that marine traffic cannot easily avoid passing through.

Personnel walk toward the Northern Watch camp at Gascoyne Inlet, Devon Island, Nunavut.  (JANICE LANG)  

The need for Arctic surveillance was increasingly in evidence over the project’s lifespan. There were increases in fishing and commercial vessels, tour boats and even adventure sailors travelling in personal yachts. For one month in the summer of 2015, the surveillance system logged 21 different vessels transiting through the Barrow Strait.

“The Arctic really is quite beautiful and a big attraction for people to go see it,” said Heard. “It’s something very different from the normal populated parts of the world.”

The political rhetoric around the Northern Watch project was a success. Harper won the 2006 election and governed for nearly a decade. But the concrete pledge of a comprehensive surveillance network fell short.

“The last trial in the summer of 2015 fully demonstrated a remotely operated surveillance capability,” reads a concluding report that was submitted to the government last summer. “Unfortunately, the duration of the trial was a matter of weeks, not the continuous 365 days, 24-7 persistent local area surveillance that was desired.”

A major hurdle was the dramatic costs of transporting the equipment and fuel 3,500 kilometres north of Toronto to Devon Island. Heard also said that existing technology is not yet sophisticated enough to sift through and analyze the sensor data and determine without human analysis if a distant underwater sound is a submarine or a whale.

There were equipment failures in 2009, when sea water leached into and destroyed the sensors; and in 2012, a massive iceberg drifted through, taking with it an underwater acoustic recorder and dashing plans to collect a year’s worth of baseline sound readings to help researchers determine the normal everyday sounds in that little known part of Canada.

“Our best goal was to try to come up with an array design that was reliable and robust and could last for years, but was still not so expensive that you couldn’t manage to lose it now and then,” said Heard, adding that underwater acoustic work in the field is rife with unexpected events.

“One of the first things you learn when you come from school … is that you’re only vaguely in control of anything. You’re kind of lucky if you can pull off what you originally planned.”

The Northern Watch camp at Gascoyne Inlet, Devon Island.  (JANICE LANG)  

Michael Byers, a professor at the University of British Columbia who specializes in Arctic sovereignty and Canadian defence policy, questioned why the military agency needed underwater-sensing capabilities in the north given the existing satellite capabilities and the aerial monitoring of foreign vessels in the summer months.

“What we’re really talking about is whether Canada needs the capacity to detect a Russian submarine if one were to enter Canada’s waters,” he said. “Quite frankly the Russian submarines were a greater threat during the Cold War than they were in 2006 when this particular project started up.”

Byers added that Ocean Networks Canada, a federally funded research group, has already developed and deployed the same type of year-round surveillance tools and collects seasonal data in the Arctic that is made available to scientists and industry.

“Was there a redundancy in the Department of National Defence’s project given that the same federal government is putting money into systems that are operational, proven and are being multiplied in number, including with plans to put them in the Arctic?”

But Heard said that his group demonstrated that remote surveillance of the Arctic is indeed possible and added to the understanding of conditions beneath the unknown waters.

It will be up to a future group of Arctic scientists to build upon their advances and to learn from their failures. The government is currently accepting proposals under a new $133-million research program to boost air and maritime surveillance, particularly in the North. The deadline for pitches is Feb. 1.

“What we built was an experimental prototype system,” Heard said. “It’s far from an operational device and so people would look at what we did and where our difficulties were and they would look toward a more integrated solution.”