Arctic Research News

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy (WAGB 20) crew and embarked researchers ventured onto a floe of multi-year ice for the first of three multi-instrument ice stations in the Arctic Ocean Basin late July and early August.As the Healy carefully approached and maintained position alongside an ice floe above 77 degrees north, the crew and a team of scientists, working in cooperation with the Office of Naval Research, (ONR) offloaded a diverse collection of equipment on to the floe carefully…

Sea ice predictions have improved markedly since the founding of an international forecasting and monitoring network 14 years ago.“These forecasts are quite encouraging in their increasing accuracy,” said Uma Bhatt, an atmospheric sciences professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute. Bhatt spoke about the Sea Ice Prediction Network at the American Geophysical Union’s annual meeting last month.As the amount of sea ice in the Arctic declines, thins and becomes more mobile…

Heddle Shipyards said it has been awarded the vessel life extension of the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker CCGS Amundsen.This week, the CCGS Amundsen will arrive at the Port Weller Dry Docks in Canada, the St. Catharines, Ontario, where it will stay through June 2022. The eight-month refit valued at approximately $12,000,000 CAD will sustain over 100 direct jobs and support subcontractors and suppliers across the Niagara Region, Ontario, and Canada.Heddle Shipyards noted it has also secured the dry docking of a seaway max laker at its Port Weller facility…

Who do you call when you need a job done on short notice, in total darkness, under 100-percent ice cover, thousands of meters at the bottom of the sea? In the case of the U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR), you call your friends in Norway.That is exactly what the Chief of Naval Research Rear Admiral Lorin C. Selby did when he enlisted the help of the Norwegian Coast Guard icebreaker and offshore patrol vessel, the CGV Svalbard, to retrieve oceanographic moorings containing irreplaceable data.

Britain’s new polar research ship, the RSS Sir David Attenborough, has been formally presented with Lloyd's Register (LR) certification after a four-year-long construction period, the classification society said.The high-profile vessel, the U.K.’s largest commercial newbuild for over 30 years, was delivered to Natural Environment Research Council and British Antarctic Survey (BAS) by Cammell Laird Shipbuilders. BAS undertake vital research in the polar regions, leading in polar science and polar operations…

Finland's Wärtsilä reports it has won a contract for the delivery and integration engineering of two retractable thrusters and a dynamic positioning (DP) system for the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) icebreaker CCGS Amundsen.Wärtsilä, which booked the order in July, said it was able to meet the CCG’s requirements to fit the equipment in the existing space of the 98-meter-long Arctic Class 3 Medium Icebreaker, the only vessel in its class to be fitted with retractable thrusters and DP. The new thrusters will be integrated with the existing bow thruster, which is also a Wärtsilä product.

Arctic region experienced the second-warmest air temperatures ever recorded; the second-lowest overall sea-ice coverage; lowest recorded winter ice in the Bering Sea; and earlier plankton blooms due to early melting of sea ice in the Bering Sea - these are the findings of NOAA’s annual report card on the Arctic.The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) report, which measures the changing climate of the polar region including warmer air and ocean temperatures and declines in sea-ice that are driving shifts in animal habitats, said that in addition to annual updates on ocean temperature, snow cover, tundra greenness and melting on the Greenland Ice Sheet…

The pace and quality of oil spill research in the United States typically ebbs and flows as a function of two, if not three important variables. First, after the 1989 Exxon Valdez grounding, there was a flurry of activity to ramp up oil spill research because it had been dormant for so long. The need was recognized, with plenty of money made available. Primarily, this research centered on conventional spill remediation techniques – for example, a tanker or barge spilling oil – and not much else. Predictably, when memory of the spill faded, so did interest in research and funding followed.

The U.S National Ice Center (USNIC) in coordination with the Office of Naval Research, Office of the Oceanographer of the Navy, the Danish Joint Arctic Command, Environmental and Climate Change Canada and University of Washington deployed buoys into the Arctic Ocean during a joint mission. The joint mission was conducted to collect weather and oceanographic data to enhance forecasting and environmental models thereby reducing operational risk for assets in the Arctic. "Polar lows are like hurricanes of the north and the data collected from these buoys will help us with numerical weather prediction, which will help to keep our and our partner forces safe," said Cmdr. Ruth Lane, Commanding Officer, U.S. National Ice Center.

Arctic thaw aids shipping most along Russian coast; Russia to start LNG exports from Yamal in late 2017. Russian shipping in the Arctic is benefiting from winds that are driving the oldest and thickest sea ice towards North America, further opening a remote region that is thawing amid global warming, scientists say. The thinning Russian ice could help liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers, due to start exports from Russia's Yamal Peninsula in late 2017, to navigate an icy route east to Asia for more than a planned six months of the year, they said. Almost all attention on Arctic shipping has focused on how global warming is shrinking the extent of ice around the North Pole, opening a summertime short-cut route between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding (DSNS, Vlissingen) has awarded Radio Holland a contract to supply the IT systems on board the state-of-the-art Antarctic Supply Research Vessel (ASRV) newbuild for the Australian Antarctic Division. The 160m ASRV is a survey vessel which combines icebreaking, survey and supply activities. The vessel will be able to break ice up to 1.65 meters at a speed of 3 knots and will supply Australia’s permanent research stations in Antarctica and Macquarie Island with cargo, equipment and personnel.

The world’s first icebreaking liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier, Christophe de Margerie, has berthed at the gas terminal at Sabetta Port in Russia, becoming the first vessel to do so. Built by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd. (DSME) in South Korea, the tanker was designed to order for SCF Group, specifically to serve Russia’s Yamal LNG project, and transport LNG year round in the difficult ice conditions of the Ob Bay and Kara Sea. On March 30 the vessel’s master…

Canada confirmed on Monday it has found the wreck of HMS Terror, the second of two British ships lost in the disastrous Franklin Arctic voyage of 1845, and said the government will work closely with northern aboriginals on ownership of the artifacts. Parks Canada, a federal agency, said in a statement it will work on "joint ownership" of the wreckage from the journey through Canada's Northwest Passage. Britain's Guardian newspaper reported earlier this month that the Arctic Research Foundation, a private group participating in the search effort, had found the ship in pristine condition at the bottom of a bay. Sir John Franklin and his…

Explorers have found the wreck of HMS Terror, the second of two British ships lost in the disastrous 1845 Franklin expedition to Canada's Arctic Northwest Passage, Britain's Guardian newspaper said on Monday. The Arctic Research Foundation, a private group that sent a vessel to help look for the ship, found it in pristine condition at the bottom of a bay earlier this month, a spokesman told the paper. Sir John Franklin and his 128-member crew in the Terror and HMS Erebus all died…

Shipping containers are being converted into the high-tech, movable tech lab, says a report in CNN. Raleigh-based Betabox's mobile labs are built inside refurbished shipping containers and have been retrofitted to include things like whiteboards, laptops and CNC milling machines. The labs come in two models. One has wheels, battery power, solar panels on its roof and 200 square feet of space, which can hold 8 to 15 students comfortably. "We can drive it to customers and set it up anywhere outside," said Sean Newman Maroni, 24,  founder and CEO of Betabox, adding that he just needs about a week's notice. There are currently three labs and Maroni plans to add two more by the end of the year. It also has a roster of 100 experts -- designers, engineers, educators -- who work with customers.

Irving Shipbuilding Inc. has committed $2 million in funding in partnership with the Nunavut Arctic College for an applied research project with a northern focus. “Irving Shipbuilding is pleased to support this call for research proposals for the Nunavut Research Institute,” said Kevin McCoy, Irving Shipbuilding President. The $2 million commitment is being made pursuant to Irving Shipbuilding’s Value Proposition obligation under Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS). Irving Shipbuilding is committed to spending 0.5 percent of contract revenues with the aim of creating a sustainable marine industry across Canada, amounting to approximately $12 million over the duration of the Arctic Offshore Patrol vessel contract.

Kongsberg Maritime has been chosen to deliver an integrated subsea technology systems package including two HUGIN Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) for a new Peruvian Navy Hydrographic & Oceanographic research vessel. The 97 meter BAP Carrasco’is built at Construcciones Navales P. Freire shipyard in Vigo, Spain. The advanced new research ship will have Polar capability and be classified with PC7 notation to perform research in Peruvian waters, in order to fulfill Peru’s commitment under the Antarctic Treaty.

European shipowners believe that the three priority areas of the new EU Arctic Policy Communication published by the Commission this week address all topical Arctic matters. Climate change and environment, sustainable development and international cooperation in the Arctic are equally important. “We appreciate the focus of the EU to the Arctic matters by developing this more coherent framework for EU action and funding programmes in the Arctic. In all follow-up actions the Arctic States should continue to be consulted by the EU”, said ECSA Secretary General Patrick Verhoeven. Shipowners encounter challenges in polar shipping such as poor charts, lack of infrastructure and navigation control systems and low search-and-rescue capability.

The leading international Arctic research organisations have set common scientific objectives for the coming decade. The indigenous peoples of the Arctic were also involved in this process. Under the auspices of the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC), which is based at the Alfred Wegener Institute in Potsdam, they are about to submit a report that sets out the path for a jointly conceived and solution-oriented research agenda on the sustainable development of the Arctic and beyond. The Arctic is the region on earth that reacts most sensitively and most quickly to changes in climate. However, what happens in the Arctic does not stay in the Arctic. The decrease in the sea ice cover, the thawing of the permafrost, snow and glaciers have an impact on the global climate system.

Canada and Sweden have reached a deal to share data that could help support Canadian claims to a vast swath of the Arctic beyond its natural borders. The two northern nations signed a new five-year "Arctic science cooperation agreement" during a meeting in Stockholm between Canada's Science Minister Kristy Duncan and Bjorn Dahlback, head of the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat. This new five-year arrangement between Natural Resources Canada and SPRS aims to enhance scientific cooperation in the Arctic through collaborative activities including elements such as marine surveying, exchange of scientific data and promotion of research results.

Russia has submitted its bid for vast territories in the Arctic to the United Nations, AP reported as the Foreign Ministry saying. The ministry said in a statement that Russia is claiming 1.2 million square kilometres (over 463,000 square miles) of Artic sea shelf extending more than 350 nautical miles (about 650 kilometres) from the shore. It said the bid contains new arguments. “Ample scientific data collected in years of Arctic research are used to back the Russian claim,” it said. Moscow also is asserting ownership of the emerging Northern Sea Route, the potentially lucrative seasonal shipping route opening above its northern coastline as Arctic ice melts. Rivalry for Arctic resources has intensified as shrinking polar ice is opening up new opportunities for exploration.

Expedition ''Kara-Winter 2015'', organized by the oil giant Rosneft, left from the city of Murmansk to study the surface ice in the Arctic, accompanied by the icebreaker Yamal. This is the third year of research expeditions organized by Rosneft with the support of specialists from the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute. The purpose of the expedition is to continue large-scale Arctic research under the exploration program of licensed shelf oil fields. “This expedition is larger than the previous ones in terms of number of participants and by type of activity. There are fifty-two expedition members on board including pilots. In addition to standard work…

NOAA plans increased 2015 Arctic nautical charting operations, coordinating with U.S. As commercial shipping traffic increases in the Arctic, NOAA informs it is taking steps to update nautical charts in the region. NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey will use data collected by two of its own ships, Rainier and Fairweather, as well as the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Healy and a private sector hydrographic contractor to cover nearly 12,000 nautical miles in the Arctic for use in updating its navigational charts.