Arctic Council News

The United States on Friday opened its northernmost diplomatic station, highlighting the increased importance of the Arctic region for Washington at a time when cooperation among Arctic nations has been hit by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the opening of the station, in Tromsoe, Norway, in June, as a means for the United States to have a "diplomatic footprint above the Arctic Circle"."Symbolically, it is significant," Andreas Oesthagen…

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday criticized Russia's activities in the Arctic region, describing them as 'unlawful maritime claims' and repeated calls to avoid the militarization of the region, days before a gathering of Arctic nations.Blinken made the warning ahead of a planned meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, the first such high-level in-person talks between Washington and Moscow since President Joe Biden took office in January.The United…

When Captain Will Whatley guides a ship through Arctic waters, he is starkly aware of what can go wrong.Double the manpower is needed to navigate. Lookout shifts are kept to just one hour, so sailors don't lose concentration and miss a mass of floating ice. Big icebergs show up on radar, but smaller, truck-sized "bergy bits"—even more dangerous—can be missed, the captain says.The cold can freeze equipment and the earth's magnetic field disrupts compasses. If anything goes wrong…

The Coast Guard needs a ship that can do more than just break ice; it needs a multi-mission ship to provide for the nation’s security, asserting its sovereign rights, and protecting its long-term economic interests. That ship is the Polar Security Cutter.Since Russia cashed the check in 1867 for the purchase of Alaska the U.S. has been an Arctic nation. Today, it is one of eight countries that have territorial land or seas above the Arctic Circle or in the polar region (six of those countries have Arctic Ocean coastline or an exclusive economic zone above the Arctic Circle). The U.S.

International Maritime Organization (IMO)  was on hand to offer advice and guidance at the third edition of the Arctic Council's Arctic Shipping Best Practice Information Forum, held in London, United Kingdom (3-4 June).The Forum supports the effective implementation of IMO's Polar Code. This year's theme was "'From Theory to Practice" and provided an opportunity for sharing of best practices and experiences.The Forum was attended by representatives from a range of stakeholders with an interest in safe and environmentally sound Arctic shipping, including shipowners and operators, regulators, classification societies, marine insurers…

The Clean Arctic Alliance expressed frustration over Members States’ failure to address the risk to the Arctic from emissions of black carbon from international shipping, after a meeting of the International Maritime Organization’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 74) closed in London.A proposal by the Clean Shipping Coalition and Clean Arctic Alliance member Pacific Environment to immediately switch away from heavy fuel oil – a major source of shipping’s black carbon emissions – to distillate fuels did not garner adequate support from Member States.There was however, broad support among Member States for regulations to control black carbon emissions…

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has been granted observer status at the Arctic Council.According to the UN body, this will allow IMO to build on previous cooperation with the Arctic Council and engage in close collaboration on a range issues related to shipping in the Arctic, in particular, search and rescue, pollution response and maritime safety and protection of the marine environment.IMO has adopted the  Polar Code, which provides mandatory requirements for ships operating in the harsh environment of the Polar regions, to provide additional protection on top of existing mandatory rules, for ship design, construction…

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The Union of Greek Shipowners (UGS) announced its acceptance as member to the Arctic Economic Council (AEC), the independent organization acting as the primary forum for interaction between the Arctic Council and the wider circumpolar and non-Arctic business communities.“Greek shipowners, who are hands-on operators and control 20% of the total world tonnage in deadweight and about 50% of the total European Union fleet, are primarily involved in cross trading activities carrying cargoes between third countries and their vessels are among the first to have navigated through the Arctic Sea route”, the President of the UGS,  Theodore Veniamis noted.Welcoming the UGS to the AEC, Mr.

The United States may soon get funding for a new heavy icebreaker ship, the head of the U.S. Coast Guard said on Thursday, as global warming spurs the race to stake out the Arctic, which is rich in oil, gas, and minerals.The United States has two operational icebreakers - a heavy one, the Polar Star, which is more than 42 years old and has outlived its life expectancy by a dozen years, and a medium one, the Healy cutter.By comparison, Russia has about 40 to 50 icebreakers, purpose-built vessels that can rescue other ships…

Representatives of the eight Arctic States and six indigenous Permanent Participant organizations, as well as the Arctic Council’s six  Working Groups and more than thirty Observers, met in Rovaniemi, Finland  last week. The Council focused its thematic discussion on biodiversity in the Arctic and welcomed updates from the six Working Groups, two Task Forces, and one Expert Group, as well as interventions from Observers. During the biodiversity discussion Working Groups presented their ongoing efforts to advance biodiversity conservation, inform policy, and engage the public.In addition, Iceland presented a preliminary plan for their upcoming Chairmanship program (2019-2021).Ambassador Aleksi Härkönen…

Finland is a traditional marine tech hub, with almost 90 company members in the Finnish Maritime Industries association. While the country has a storied maritime history across many sectors, based on geographic locale, it’s Arctic and ice marine technology is second to none, and it’s hoping the U.S. Coast Guard is taking notice.The Finnish maritime industry is hoping to get involved in developing the new icebreakers for the U.S. Coast Guard polar icebreaker program. Ulla Lainio…

China unveiled its ambitions to develop a "Polar Silk Road" through the Arctic, joining a multinational race to exploit opportunities in the resource-rich region, as the shipping lanes opened up by global warming. China said it would encourage enterprises to build infrastructure and conduct commercial trial voyages, paving the way for Arctic shipping routes, in its first official Arctic policy white paper. "China hopes to work with all parties to build a 'Polar Silk Road' through developing the Arctic shipping routes," the paper, issued by the State Council Information Office, said. According to various media reports,  China would work with Russia and other Arctic countries to develop the polar route.

As foreign ministers from countries with territory in the far North celebrated an agreement on fighting climate change this week, one topic seethed below the surface: growing competition for Arctic resources and sea lanes as the ice melts. Russia, one of eight members of the Arctic Council which includes the United States, Canada and the Nordic countries, has been pouring money and missiles into the Arctic as well as reopening and building bases there. This is bringing its Arctic military presence to the highest level since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union.

A recent seminar held March 7 and 8 in Porvoo, Finland, saw Finnish companies Arctia and Lamor Corporation present the results of the IMOR (Ice Management & Oil Recovery) project, which seeks to enhance oil recovery in ice conditions. The oil recovery seminar, arranged by icebreaking services provider Arctia in collaboration with oil spill response specialist Lamor, was opened by the company’s respective CEOs, Tero Vauraste and Fred Larsen. In his speech, Vauraste stated that oil recovery is a key part of Arctia’s range of services.

U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft delivered the 2017 State of the Coast Guard Address at the National Press Club Thursday. This was Adm. Zukunft's third State of the Coast Guard Address and he emphasized the service as a unique instrument of national security. First and foremost an armed service, the Coast Guard is the only branch of the U.S. armed forces that has broad law enforcement authorities and a portfolio of more than 60 bi-lateral agreements that extend around the globe, Zukunft said.

The  International Maritime Organization (IMO) Polar Code took centre stage at the Arctic Council in Juneau, Alaska, United States (8-9 March) where IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim delivered a speech on the importance of the Code. Secretary-General Lim highlighted the safety of seafarers and the environmental protection as key elements of the Code. The meeting unveiled its 2017-2019 programme which focuses on addressing the effects of climate change and fostering sustainable development. Other key topics such as scientific cooperation, renewable energy, protected areas, shipping, prevention of oils spills and marine biodiversity were also discussed.

A meeting of the Arctic Economic Council (AEC) was held in Saint Petersburg on the premises of SCF Arctic, a subsidiary of Sovcomflot Group (PAO Sovcomflot), on 7-8 February 2017. The meeting was attended by business community representatives from Russia, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Canada, and the USA, as well as several organizations of indigenous peoples of the Arctic: Gwich'in Council International, Aleut International Association, Arctic Athabaskan Council, Inuit Circumpolar Association, and RAIPON (Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North). This event was the first ever meeting held by the AEC in the Russian Federation.

The nuclear icebreaker Lenin, the pride and joy of the Soviet Union's Arctic great game, lies at perpetual anchor in the frigid water here. A relic of the Cold War, it is now a museum. But nearly three decades after the Lenin was taken out of service to be turned into a visitor attraction, Russia is again on the march in the Arctic and building new nuclear icebreakers. It is part of a push to firm Moscow's hand in the High North as it vies for dominance with traditional rivals Canada, the United States, and Norway as well as newcomer China.

The Arctic has lost almost 95% of its older ice cover since 1984, says NASA. The area covered by Arctic sea ice at least four years old has decreased from 1,860,000 square kilometres in September 1984 to 110,000 square kilometres in September 2016. ABC News quoted a report produced by the Arctic Council -- an intergovernmental forum of eight member countries that include the U.S., Canada and Russia -- stressed that changes to the Arctic have "global implications," including feedback loops, a phenomenon that could lead to the rapid acceleration of ice melt and in turn raise global temperatures and exacerbate sea-level rise. Rising sea levels are already battering America's coastlines, and threatening to cause entire islands to disappear underwater.

Industry analyst and environmental consultant Dagmar Schmidt Etkin, PhD, takes a hard look at a rapidly shifting operational landscape in the Arctic. Always an honest broker of information, Etkin tells it like it is. Oil spill risk is present anywhere that oil is present in reservoirs, or is transported, consumed, stored, and handled in some way. The Arctic is no exception. Not only are there oil reserves in the Arctic, some of which are being or will soon be considered for exploration and production, there is also oil being transported as cargo or as fuel to Arctic communities.

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) held a public listening session in Washington D.C. on September 27, 2016 to address ships’ use of heavy fuel oil (HFO) in the Arctic, examining its risks and as well as potential mitigation strategies which can be taken to the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The event was held in the Department of Transportation building, where Paul “Chip” Jaenichen, Sr., Maritime Administrator for the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD), welcomed participants. The listening session was led by Jeff Lantz, director of Commercial Regulations and Standards at USCG headquarters, and head of U.S. Delegation to the IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee and Marine Environment Protection Committee.

Standing near Greenland's Jakobshavn glacier, the reputed source of the iceberg that sank the Titanic over a century ago, U.S Secretary of State John Kerry saw evidence of another looming catastrophe. Giant icebergs broken off from the glacier seemed to groan as they drifted behind him, signaling eventual rising oceans that scientists warn will submerge islands and populated coastal region. Briefed by researchers aboard a Royal Danish Navy patrol ship, Kerry appeared stunned by how fast the ice sheets are melting. He was struck by the more dire warnings he was hearing about the same process underway in Antarctica. "This has been a significant eye-opener for me and I have spent 25 years or engaged in this issue…