FAIRBANKS -- A multinational council has recommended the United States and other northern countries adopt mandatory rules for construction of ships that ply the Arctic Ocean, where thinning ice and increasing resource development should accelerate commercial shipping.

Shipping through the ice-covered ocean -- a basin ringed by major fisheries, bookended by land-based mining projects and host to high-profile oil and gas leasing -- has risen, but rules and guidelines for shipbuilders and Arctic countries vary or, where standardized, remain voluntary, the council reported in a major assessment of arctic shipping.

The call for harmonized standards and laws, made through an Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment led by the eight-nation Arctic Council, comes as researchers consistently find signs that Arctic ice has thinned drastically and analysts mull the potential ramifications. The group cites scientific indications the Arctic's year-round ice cover could contain melting spots and channels within a few years.

But Lawson Brigham, a former icebreaker captain now serving as professor of geography and arctic policy at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, said recently that despite that melting, the ocean remains -- and will remain -- ice-covered for most of the year, justifying calls for comprehensive standards uniform enough for shipbuilders, shipping companies, national governments and others to follow regardless of home port or location.

"It is highly plausible there will be greater marine access and longer seasons of navigation, except perhaps during winter, but not necessarily less difficult ice conditions for marine operations," the assessment's summary states.

environmental safeguards

Brigham served as chairman of the five-year assessment. Led by Canada, Finland and the United States, the project aimed to weigh regional, local and circumpolar perspectives, focusing on past, current and future shipping activity in Arctic waters.

The United Nations-affiliated International Maritime Organization has drafted voluntary standards covering many aspects of marine policy for Arctic States to follow, according to the assessment. But such measures, Brigham said, would be more effective in protecting the Arctic environment and improving safety if the standards were mandatory and uniform across national boundaries.

Since the report's release in April, the IMO looks poised to adopt the plan, Brigham said.

The assessment included input from shipbuilders, northern states, insurers, shipping companies and others, Brigham said. The report also recommends countries and private industry work together on legislation aimed at protecting the Arctic environment from the prospect of a major oil spill. It further suggests nations address a shortage of infrastructure such as deep-water ports, icebreakers and navigational charts, and that they work to improve traffic awareness systems.

"There is a general lack of marine infrastructure in the Arctic, except for areas along the Norwegian coast and northwest Russia, compared to other marine regions of the world with high concentrations of ship traffic," the assessment reads.

The assessment was called for by the Arctic Council, a multinational partnership. The group recommended Arctic states weigh the need to designate areas for international environmental protection.

ADVERTISEMENT