Coast Guard preparing for Arctic summer
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Plans a comprehensive range of operations for open water season as Arctic traffic increases; budget cuts will impact operating hours
Alan Bailey Petroleum News
Although federal budget cuts, known as sequestration, are impacting U.S. Coast Guard operations, the Coast Guard will continue its program of Arctic activities during this year’s open water season, Lt. Veronica Colbath, Coast Guard external affairs officer, told Petroleum News May 9.
The Coast Guard is still formulating its detailed plans but will deploy cutters, aircraft and personnel to the region, Colbath said.
“They will maintain a presence in the Arctic region and engage in operations that encompass a variety of Coast Guard missions,” she said.
Traffic growth Although Shell will not be mounting an Arctic offshore drilling campaign this year, an operation that triggered some significant Coast Guard activity last year, the continuing growth in Arctic vessel traffic and traffic through the Bering Strait is causing the Coast Guard to maintain a significant summer presence in northern waters. Shipping traffic has doubled in the past two years, Colbath said.
However, it is likely that sequestration will impact the operational hours of the agency’s cutters and aircraft, she said.
The Coast Guard will conduct outreach with Arctic communities and will leverage partnerships with federal, state, local and tribal partners to ensure maritime safety, Colbath said. In addition, the Coast Guard will conduct a major oil spill seminar with those partners, and with industry representatives. And the Coast Guard will bring one of its buoy tenders to the Arctic to conduct a towing exercise with the Canadian Coast Guard.
The icebreaker Healy will conduct some science missions, while the Polar Star, the Coast Guard’s heavy icebreaker that has just returned to duty after a major refit, will travel to the Arctic to conduct ice trials. The Polar Star’s crew will test the vessel’s ice breaking capabilities, while the crew will also undergo training to ensure operational readiness, Colbath said. The Coast Guard also plans to conduct other marine surface patrols, she said.
One issue yet to be resolved is the question of where to locate the Coast Guard’s Arctic forward operating base for search and rescue — last year the agency operated for four months out of Barrow, at the northwestern end of the North Slope. This year the agency is considering the Chukchi Sea coastal village of Kotzebue as a base location, perhaps making use of the Alaska National Guard facility that is located there. Kotzebue would be conveniently positioned for dealing with vessel traffic plying the Bering Strait. With the strait being very narrow and not having a traffic scheme, the Coast Guard is concerned about the possibility of a vessel collision or grounding, Colbath said.
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