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Baffin Bay News

31 Aug 2016

Arctic Sea Ice Melt Continues

Average sea surface temperature measured by satellites using thermal emission sensors, which produce global data adjusted after comparison with ship and buoy data, and sea ice concentration derived from NSIDC near-real-time data for August 7, 2016. Also shown are drifting buoy temperatures at the ocean surface (colored circles); gray circles indicate that temperature data from the buoys are not available. (Credit: M. Steele, Polar Science Center/University of Washington)

As of August 14, Arctic sea ice extent is tracking third lowest in the satellite record, according to the National Snow & Ice Data Center (NSIDC). The southern route through the Northwest Passage appears to be largely free of ice. Despite a rather diffuse ice cover in the Chukchi Sea, it is unlikely that Arctic sea ice extent this September will fall below the record minimum set in 2012. As of August 14, Arctic sea ice extent was 5.61 million square kilometers, the third lowest extent in the satellite record for this date and slightly below the two standard deviation range.

05 Aug 2016

Is it a Ship or Iceberg?

Small iceberg off the port bow of Canadian Coast Guard ship Louis St-Laurent. (Photo: Canadian Coast Guard)

Developing the capability to discriminate between ships and icebergs in northern latitudes is a common interest shared by Canada’s Department of National Defense (DND) and the oil and gas industry. For DND, the focus is on ship detection for maritime security, whereas oil and gas companies are interested in detecting icebergs to ensure primarily the safety and also the productivity of offshore exploration and production operations. The Polar Epsilon and Polar Epsilon-2 applied…

31 Jul 2016

Arctic Sea Ice Melt at Higher Level

Sea ice is decreasing in the Arctic but year-to-year variability in sea ice extent is large. Ice extent is influenced by atmospheric circulation, with temperatures dictating ice melt, and winds shifting the ice, reports the Nature. According to National Snow and Ice Data Center, through the first half of July, Arctic sea ice extent continued tracking close to levels in 2012, the summer that ended with the lowest September extent in the satellite record. The stormy weather pattern that characterized June has persisted into July. Nevertheless, sea ice melt began earlier than average over most of the Arctic Ocean. As of July 18, Arctic sea ice extent was 7.82 million square kilometers (3.02 million square miles).

02 Oct 2015

Arctic Ice 'Too Thick' for Shipping Route

Sea ice in the Arctic is still too thick for Northwest Passage commercial shipping route in spite of warming temperatures. This is according to new research from York University. Despite climate change, Arctic sea ice remains too thick and treacherous, says the study, “Ice Thickness in the Northwest Passage,” published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters on September 25, 2015. Scientists with York University carried out electromagnetic ice thickness surveys during April and May in 2011 and 2015 to measure the thickness of sea ice over the Northwest Passage — “a system of gulfs, straits, sounds, and channels in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago connecting the Beaufort Sea in the west with Baffin Bay in the east,” according to researchers.

19 Jun 2015

Catamaran Race Starts with 2 Rescues

An Air Station Corpus Christi rescue swimmer is deployed for two rescues in the Gulf of Mexico and audio of a distress call from one of the mariners on VHF-16. (screenshot from USCG video)

The U.S. Coast Guard brought two men to safety Thursday after a sailboat capsized 3 miles offshore and rescued another man who went overboard 11 miles offshore; all were participating in the first leg of the Great Texas 300. After being postponed due to Tropical Storm Bill, the 100-mile stretch from South Padre Island to Mustang Island of the Great Texas 300 began early Thursday morning. The race ends in Galveston. At approximately 11 a.m., a manmade a distress call on VHF marine band radio channel 16…

03 Oct 2014

Discovered Franklin Expedition Ship is HMS Erebus

HMS Erebus (Image: Parks Canada)

The Franklin Expedition ship discovered in early September by the 2014 Victoria Strait Expedition is Her Majesty’s Ship (HMS) Erebus. Sir John Franklin, who was in command of the Franklin Expedition, sailed on HMS Erebus, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Wednesday. On May 19, 1845, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror of the Royal Navy departed Greenhithe, England, on a much-heralded Arctic expedition in search of a Northwest Passage. Under the command of Sir John Franklin…

30 Jul 2014

Pumps Reach Sinking Shrimper Just in Time

The Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi Command Center received a distress call from the 68-foot-long shrimping vessel Huachinango (“wha-chin-ahn-go”), taking on water 37 miles offshore of Baffin Bay. The three people aboard activated two de-watering pumps and started to keep pace with the flooding in the engine compartment. However, the flooding quickly covered the lower half of the engine room and they had difficulty keeping power for the pumps with their generator. The Coast Guard Cutter Brant, an 87-foot patrol boat on patrol offshore, and an MH-65 Dolphin rescue helicopter crew from Sector Corpus Christi were dispatched to assist. The helicopter arrived on scene first and lowered their rescue swimmer and a de-watering pump to assist the flooded vessel.

21 Jul 2014

Crystal Cruises to Sail Elusive Northwest Passage

The “World’s Best” Crystal Cruises is introducing a new expedition-style  voyage traversing the Arctic Ocean via the legendary Northwest Passage – one so mysterious and remote (500 miles north of the Arctic Circle), that explorers spent centuries seeking the passage, until it was first completed successfully by Roald Amundsen just over 100 years ago. Crystal will be the first luxury cruise line to ever navigate the route, maneuvering through 900 miles of majestic waterways lined with spectacular glaciers, towering fjords, and vast unspoiled landscapes away from mainstream civilization and tourism, north of mainland Canada. Beginning August 16, 2016 in Anchorage/Seward, Alaska, the award-winning Crystal Serenity will sail for 32 days from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean/New York City.

18 Jul 2014

Crystal to Cruise via Arctic Northwest Passage in 2016

Crystal Cruises says it is introducing a new expedition-style voyage traversing the Arctic Ocean via the Northwest Passage (500 miles north of the Arctic Circle) that explorers spent centuries seeking, until it was first completed successfully by Roald Amundsen just over 100 years ago. Crystal claims to be the first luxury cruise line to ever navigate the route, maneuvering through 900 miles of majestic waterways lined with spectacular glaciers, towering fjords, and vast unspoiled landscapes away from mainstream civilization and tourism, north of mainland Canada. Beginning August 16, 2016 in Anchorage/Seward, Alaska, the award-winning Crystal Serenity will sail for 32 days from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean/New York City.

08 May 2014

Bering Sea Early Sea Ice Break-Up 2014

The National Snow & Ice Data Center informs that since reaching its annual maximum extent on March 21, Arctic sea ice extent has declined somewhat unevenly, but has consistently been well below its average 1981 to 2010 extent. While the rate of Arctic-wide retreat was rapid through the first half of April, it has subsequently slowed down. However, ice breakup was quite early in the Bering Sea, presenting difficulties for gold dredging operations and seal hunters in the region. In the Antarctic, sea ice continued to reach record high extents. Average ice extent for April 2014 was the fifth lowest for the month in the satellite record. Through 2014, the linear rate of decline for April ice extent is -2.4% per decade relative to the 1981 to 2010 average.

10 Dec 2013

Ice – The Ship Hull Nemesis

MV Patriot’s hull after a year in the ice with a conventional ice coating.

For as long as men have traveled and traded by water-routes, ice has been a nemesis for ships and their hulls. And with good reason since, on average, sea ice covers about 25 million square kilometers (9,652,553 square miles) of the planet—amounting to about two-and-a-half times the area of Canada. To wage ice battle, even in the earliest days of polar exploration, sailors used strengthened ships to ply icy waters. Naturally, these ships were originally wooden and based on existing designs but reinforced…

29 Jul 2013

CCGS Research Icebreaker Sails on 2013 Arctic Mission

CCGS Amundsen: Photo courtesy of Canadian Coast Guard

The Honourable Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans wished bon voyage to Canadian Coast Guard crew members and scientists aboard the CCGS 'Amundsen' who will participate in the 2013 research mission in  the Canadian Arctic. "This year marks the 10th anniversary of the CCGS Amundsen, a state-of-the-art multidisciplinary research icebreaker," said Minister Shea. The CCGS Amundsen is one of the few Canadian icebreakers to have a dual purpose. In winter, she is assigned to the CCG icebreaking program whereas every summer, she is chartered by ArcticNet, a scientific consortium.

25 Jun 2013

Damen Introduces Arctic Towing Supply Vessel Concept

Photo: Damen

Last February, five Maritime Engineering bachelor students of the Delft University of Technology (the Netherlands) finished their Minor on Arctic Engineering. In cooperation with Damen Shipyards Group and other partners this project has now resulted, amongst others, in a new Arctic vessel: the Damen AMTSV (Arctic Modular Towing Supply Vessel). The 100-meter double acting supply ship is capable of operating in the Barents Sea year round and in the Baffin Bay and Beaufort Sea for 8 months. The AMTSV has the ability to sail through 1.6 meters of level ice at three knots.

14 Jun 2012

Arctic Route Helps Owners Slash Fuel Costs

“I think it important to remind everyone that the place is ice-covered – fully or partially – eight to 10 months out of the year through the century and beyond," Said Lawson W. Brigham, PhD, Distinguished Professor, Geography and Arctic Policy, University of Alaska – Fairbanks.

The debate regarding working in and around the Arctic is multi-tiered, with environmental, technical and emergency response heading the list. There is no debate regarding the fuel, money and emissions to be saved by shortening select global shipping routes. In a report from Bloomberg news posted June 13 on http://www.businessweek.com, it was said there will be a rise in dry bulk cargos hauled through Arctic waters this season, a journey that can halve shipping time compared to some Suez Canal shipments, and simultaneously reduce fuel consumption, costs and emissions.

24 May 2012

The Arctic: Economic Promise or Environmental Peril?

 “There are between 40-160B barrels of ‘technically recoverable’ conventional oil North of the Arctic Circle; most offshore & most in less than 500m of water.”  Dr. Donald Gautier, U.S. Geological Survey

The fervor to move shipping routes and energy business north of the Arctic Circle is palpable, as countries with physical connection and even ‘non-Arctic’ states are making moves and plans to stake claims to the vast potential that lies within. While the maritime and subsea technology allowing ops in the Arctic’s harsh environs has moved forward fast, there are repeated and regular ‘warning shots across the bow’ of budding entrepreneurs large and small, as the Arctic environment is still largely undeveloped territory, representing risky operations for even the heartiest of souls.

26 Apr 2011

Greenpeace Drilling Protest on ArcticBound Rig

According to a report from PennEnergy, on April 21, a group of 11 Greenpeace protesters climbed the Leiv Eiriksson semisubmersible drilling rig  to stop its mobilization. The Leiv Eiriksson was slated to depart Turkish waters for a drilling campaign in the Baffin Bay offshore Greenland. Cairn Energy contracted the rig to perform exploration drilling in the Arctic waters offshore Greenland in an ongoing effort to establish the region as a new oil and gas province.   (Source: PennEnergy)

07 Mar 2011

Hope Shipyard Delivers the M/V Trinity Bay

Photo courtesy Hope Services

Hope Services Shipyard of Dulac, La. delivered the M/V Trinity Bay on March 4 to Higman Marine Services of Houston, Texas. The delivery marks the 35th vessel Hope has constructed for Higman. The M/V Trinity Bay is the second 78-ft by 34-ft by 10-ft inland towing vessel Hope has manufactured for Higman. The first vessel of this size, the M/V Baffin Bay was delivered in November 2010. It is powered by a pair of Cummins KTA‐38M diesel engines providing 2,000 horsepower.

13 Jan 2011

Towboats Still in Demand

Paducah Kentucky-based photographer Jeff L. Yates took this photo on January 7, 2011 as M/V Baffin Bay was holding against the right descending bank at mile 6.5 on the Tennessee River, probably waiting for improved weather conditions on the Ohio River. Jeff reports that she was en-route from Decatur, Alabama to Houston Texas and pushing two barges at the time. Jeff L. Yates photo courtesy of Cummins Marine.

In spite of the economic gloom of 2010, the demand for solid reliable towboats for the U.S. inland waterways has continued. An example of this is Higman Marine Services’ latest addition. The final month of 2010 saw yet another towboat added to the fleet of their subsidiary Higman Barge Lines. As with many earlier boats The M/V Baffin Bay was built by Hope Services of Dulac Louisiana. But this boat is one of the newly designed and larger 78 by 34-ft vessels. Hull number 174 from Hope’s yard is also the 36th vessel from Hope for Higman.

30 Nov 2010

Maersk Oil Exploration License Offshore Greenland

According to a Nov. 29 report from The Wall Street Journal, Maersk Oil has been awarded a license covering Block 9 in Baffin Bay, offshore West Greenland. The frontier exploration block is 11,802 sq km. (Source: The Wall Street Journal)

10 Jun 2003

Change of Command for Coast Guard Cutter

Captain David J. Visneski, was relieved as Commanding Officer of the Coast Guard Cutter HEALY today by Captain Daniel K. Oliver in a ceremony held onboard the cutter today. Under Captain Visneski’s leadership, HEALY sailed over 70,000 miles in completing three highly successful Polar deployments. The Coast Guard’s newest and largest icebreaker executed two scientific deployments to the Arctic and also completed a deployment to Antarctica. During the Arctic East Summer 2001 scientific mission to the eastern Arctic, scientists onboard HEALY discovered 12 underwater volcanoes, recovered over 8 tones of geological samples from the ocean floor, and even discovered a new species of shrimp. HEALY also became only the second U.S. surface ship to reach the North Pole during that deployment.