|
Canada, U.S. share Arctic expertise Canada, United States set aside differences to conduct Beaufort Sea seismic survey for purpose of defining continental shelf; Danish admiral agrees with need for tougher controls over Arctic shipping; Canadian researcher worries about foot-dragging By Gary Park For Petroleum News
Canada has found allies in the United States and Denmark on a couple of issues as the Arctic sovereignty debate heats up.
Canada and the U.S. have teamed up to conduct a seismic survey of the Beaufort seabed north of the Yukon-Alaska border, a change from the recent tensions over control of the Northwest Passage and jurisdiction over a portion of the Beaufort Sea.
Meanwhile, a Danish admiral has echoed Canada’s campaign for improvements to safety regulations governing Arctic shipping, saying there should be mandatory rules for equipment and preparation before vessels can sail into Arctic waters.
The joint seismic study will involve the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Healy in creating a “straight and open path through the ice” for the Canadian Coast Guard ship Louis St. Laurent as its crew undertakes sonar scans on the Beaufort Sea bottom.
A U.S. State Department release said the “collaboration will assist both countries in defining the continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean” — a crucial element in determining sovereignty over the region.
The joint effort will “save millions of dollars for both countries, provide data of greater interest to both countries and increase scientific and diplomatic co-operation,” the State Department said.
Canadian federal geoscientist Jacob Verhoef, who is heading Canada’s seabed mapping project, said the bilateral program stemmed from a sharing of information last year about previous mapping missions, at which time Canada and the United States realized each had specialized equipment and techniques that could be beneficially shared.
He said the United States was “impressed” with Canada’s seismic methods for measuring the thickness of seabed sediments, while Canada was equally impressed with United States success in using a “high-resolution bathymetric system” that profiles the shape of the ocean floor.
The joint work is expected to help prepare submissions to claim jurisdiction over seabed areas beyond the 225-mile coastal economic zones. Canada faces a 2013 deadline to file its submission.
Mandatory codes needed Rear Admiral Henrick Kudsk of Denmark’s Greenland Command said there is a need for “mandatory codes” applying to Arctic and Antarctic navigation, especially as the number of vessels entering Arctic waters increases.
He predicted 45 cruise ships carrying 55,000 passengers will sail into Greenland waters this summer, up 60 percent from last year.
Dennis Bevington, a member of Canada’s parliament from the Western Arctic, issued a call making it mandatory for all ships sailing into the Canadian Arctic to register with the Coast Guard, saying Canada’s ability to clean up oil spills is limited by the amount of ice in the water.
Kudsk noted that vessel registration is mandatory in Greenland and those that fail to comply are fined.
Canada does not have effective control Ron Huebert, associate director for the Center of Military and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary, said in a Globe and Mail article Aug. 16 that melting ice in the Northwest Passage will see more international shipping in the Arctic, meaning “Canada needs to be prepared for when it comes, or else the world will simply ignore Canada.”
He said that strictly speaking all foreign vessels entering what are deemed to be Canadian Arctic waters must follow the Arctic Water Pollution Prevention Act introduced in the early 1970s, but “they do not have to tell Canadian authorities.”
Until now most ships have complied to gain access to Canadian reports on ice conditions, but in 2007 two cruise ships declined to report to the Arctic marine traffic system.
“This is very troubling,” Huebert said. “Why they suddenly decided to do this is unknown. But it reminds the world that Canada does not have effective control.”
Ice-breaking fleet small, aged Even if Canada were to prohibit the ships from entering its waters it would have to have required vessels to support the ban, he said.
Because the Canadian Coast Guard’s ice-breaking fleet is so small and aged and its search-and-rescue capability is based farther south and the navy has only limited ability to venture north, Canada is ill-equipped to exercise control over the Arctic, Huebert said.
He said successive Canadian governments have failed to develop a comprehensive policy framework for the Arctic and “time is running out.”
Unless clear rules are introduced “it will be too late to do so after new shipping arrives. Already some foreign companies are beginning to resist Canadian efforts to control their activities,” Huebert said.
He noted that rising oil and gas prices are renewing interest in Arctic exploration, with ExxonMobil, Imperial Oil and BP investing heavily in Beaufort Sea rights, but climate change is making pipeline construction more problematic.
Huebert said melting ice and the loss of permafrost is shifting the spotlight to the possible use of tankers for the movement of oil and gas.
The resources in Canada’s Arctic Islands and waters have not been developed because of the challenge and cost of extraction and delivery to market, but those impediments are “lessening,” making the economic development of the Arctic with ships rather than pipelines “much more likely,” he said.
| 