Oil exploration, cruise liners and lone adventurers are posing new challenges to the world's Arctic maritime authorities, according to a panel of government officials speaking at a State Department conference in Anchorage on Monday.
The goal is to "keep oil and people out of the water," said Gary Rasicot, a U.S. Coast Guard commander, but added that the Arctic region lacks crucial infrastructure, communication networks and updated nautical maps.
Seafarers today navigate northern waters using charts not much better than the ones drawn up by British explorer Captain James Cook in the 18th century, Rasicot joked to a panel on international emergency response at the GLACIER conference.
Changing sea ice extent, erosion and other climate-related processes are making the few charts that do exist less useful, he added.
Meanwhile, agencies such as the U.S. Coast Guard have limited capabilities in the region.
North Slope Borough Search and Rescue Director April Brower highlighted the lack of emergency equipment and personnel along Alaska's coast.
"Village volunteers are the only viable first responders on the North Slope," she said.
In addition to Rasicot and Brower, the panel included a U.S. ocean mapper and the Iceland Coast Guard's Chief of Operations Ásgrímur L. Ásgrímsson -- the only non-American on a panel billed as addressing international emergency preparedness and cooperation.
Russia, despite its long Arctic coastline, was notably absent from the discussion.