research - shipping NW channel

The Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The various islands of the archipelago are separated from one another and the Canadian mainland by a series of Arctic waterways collectively known as the Northwest Passages or Northwestern Passages.
Sought by explorers for centuries as a possible trade route, it was first navigated by Roald Amundsen in 1903–1906. Until 2009, the Arctic pack ice prevented regular marine shipping throughout most of the year, but climate change has reduced the pack ice, and this Arctic shrinkage made the waterways more navigable. However, the contested sovereignty claims over the waters may complicate future shipping through the region: The Canadian government considers the Northwestern Passages part of Canadian Internal Waters,[8] but the United States and various European countries maintain they are an international strait or transit passage, allowing free and unencumbered passage.

There has been speculation that with the advent of climate change the passage may become clear enough of ice to again permit safe commercial shipping for at least part of the year. On August 21, 2007, the Northwest Passage became open to ships without the need of an icebreaker. According to Nalan Koc of the Norwegian Polar Institute this is the first time it has been clear since they began keeping records in 1972. The Northwest Passage opened again on August 25, 2008.
Thawing ocean or melting ice simultaneously opened up the Northwest Passage and the Northern Sea Route (Northeast Passage), making it possible to sail around the Arctic ice cap. Compared to 1979, the Daily Mail published "Blocked: The Arctic ice, showing as a pink mass in the 1979 picture, links up with northern Canada and Russia." Awaited by shipping companies, this 'historic event' will cut thousands of miles off their routes. Warning, however, that the NASA satellite images indicated the Arctic may have entered a "death spiral" caused by climate change, Professor Mark Serreze, a sea ice specialist at National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), USA, said: "The passages are open. It's a historic event. We are going to see this more and more as the years go by." Due to Arctic shrinkage, the Beluga group of Bremen, Germany, sent the first Western commercial vessels through the Northern Sea Route (Northeast Passage) in 2009. However, Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that "ships entering the North-West passage should first report to his government."

International waters dispute
The Canadian government claims that some of the waters of the Northwest Passage, particularly those in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, are internal to Canada, giving Canada the right to bar transit through these waters. Most maritime nations, including the United States and the nations of the European Union, consider them to be an international strait, where foreign vessels have the right of "transit passage". In such a régime, Canada would have the right to enact fishing and environmental regulation, and fiscal and smuggling laws, as well as laws intended for the safety of shipping, but not the right to close the passage.

If the passage’s deep waters become completely ice-free in summer months, they would be particularly enticing for massive supertankers that are too big to pass through the Panama Canal and must navigate around the tip of South America. [55]In 1985, the U.S. icebreaker Polar Sea passed through from Greenland to Alaska; the ship submitted to inspection by the Canadian Coast Guard before passing through, but the event infuriated the Canadian public and resulted in a diplomatic incident. The United States government, when asked by a Canadian reporter, indicated that they did not ask for permission as they were not legally required to. The Canadian government issued a declaration in 1986 reaffirming Canadian rights to the waters. However, the United States refused to recognize the Canadian claim. In 1988 the governments of Canada and the U.S. signed an agreement, "Arctic Cooperation", that resolved the practical issue without solving the sovereignty questions. Under the law of the sea, ships engaged in transit passage are not permitted to engage in research. The agreement states that all US Coast Guard vessels are engaged in research, and so would require permission from the Government of Canada to pass through.[56]

In late 2005, it was alleged that U.S. nuclear submarines had travelled unannounced through Canadian Arctic waters, sparking outrage in Canada. In his first news conference after the 2006 federal election, Prime Minister-designate Stephen Harper contested an earlier statement made by the U.S. ambassador that Arctic waters were international, stating the Canadian government's intention to enforce its sovereignty there. The allegations arose after the U.S. Navy released photographs of the USS Charlotte surfaced at the North Pole.[57][58]


On July 9, 2007, Prime Minister Harper announced the establishment of a deep-water port in the far North. In the government press release the Prime Minister is quoted as saying, “Canada has a choice when it comes to defending our sovereignty over the Arctic. We either use it or lose it. And make no mistake, this Government intends to use it. Because Canada’s Arctic is central to our national identity as a northern nation. It is part of our history. And it represents the tremendous potential of our future."[62]

On July 10, 2007, Rear Admiral Timothy McGee of the United States Navy, and Rear Admiral Brian Salerno of the United States Coast Guard announced that the United States would also be increasing its ability to patrol the Arctic.[63]

Effects of climate change
Arctic shrinkage as of 2007 compared to previous years
In the summer of 2000, two Canadian ships took advantage of thinning summer ice cover on the Arctic Ocean to make the crossing.[64] It is thought that climate change is likely to open the passage for increasing periods of time, making it attractive as a major shipping route. However the passage through the Arctic Ocean would require significant investment in escort vessels and staging ports. Therefore the Canadian commercial marine transport industry does not anticipate the route as a viable alternative to the Panama Canal even within the next 10 to 20 years.[65]
Wikinews has related news: Arctic ice levels at record low opening Northwest Passage
On September 14, 2007, the European Space Agency stated that, based on satellite images, ice loss had opened up the passage "for the first time since records began in 1978". According to the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, the latter part of the 20th century and the start of the 21st had seen marked shrinkage of ice cover. The extreme loss in 2007 rendered the passage "fully navigable".[4][5] However, the ESA study was based only on analysis of satellite images and could in practice not confirm anything about the actual navigation of the waters of the passage. The ESA suggested the passage would be navigable "during reduced ice cover by multi-year ice pack" (namely sea ice surviving one or more summers) where previously any traverse of the route had to be undertaken during favourable seasonable climatic conditions or by specialist vessels or expeditions. The agency's report speculated that the conditions prevalent in 2007 had shown the passage may "open" sooner than expected.[6] An expedition in May 2008 reported that the passage was not yet continuously navigable even by an icebreaker and not yet ice-free.[66]

Scientists at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union on December 13, 2007, revealed that NASA satellites observing the western Arctic.[clarification needed] showed a 16% decrease in cloud coverage during the summer of 2007 compared to 2006. This would have the effect of allowing more sunlight to penetrate Earth's atmosphere and warm the Arctic Ocean waters, thus melting sea ice and contributing to the opening the Northwest Passage.[67]
In recent years at least one scheduled cruise liner (the MS Bremen in 2006) has successfully run the Northwest Passage,[47] helped by satellite images telling where sea ice was.

In January 2010, the ongoing reduction in the Arctic Sea ice led telecoms cable specialist Kodiak-Kenai Cable to propose the laying of a fibre-optic cable connecting London and Tokyo, by way of the Northwest Passage, saying the proposed system would nearly cut in half the time it takes to send messages from the United Kingdom to Japan.


2008 sealift
On November 28, 2008, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported that the Canadian Coast Guard confirmed the first commercial ship sailed through the Northwest Passage. In September 2008, the MV Camilla Desgagnés, owned by Desgagnés Transarctik Inc. and, along with the Arctic Cooperative, is part of Nunavut Sealift and Supply Incorporated (NSSI),[68] transported cargo from Montreal to the hamlets of Cambridge Bay, Kugluktuk, Gjoa Haven and Taloyoak. A member of the crew is reported to have claimed that "there was no ice whatsoever". Shipping from the east is to resume in the fall of 2009.[69] Although sealift is an annual feature of the Canadian Arctic this is the first time that the western communities have been serviced from the east. The western portion of the Canadian Arctic is normally supplied by Northern Transportation Company Limited (NTCL) from Hay River. The eastern portion by NNSI and NTCL from Churchill and Montreal.[70][71]



NTI president: Ottawa must act on Arctic shipping boom
“Our boats are not even sheltered by basic breakwaters”
CHRIS WINDEYER


Ottawa needs to step up to help Inuit deal with the potential boom in shipping through Canada’s Arctic waters, the president of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., Cathy Towtongie, said Feb. 14 at the Baffin Mayor’s Forum in Iqaluit.
“Our communities are the basis of Canada’s presence in the North,” Towtongie said.

Towtongie said the lack of basic marine infrastructure makes it impossible to respond quickly to spills or shipping accidents, while hampering the ability of hunters to travel or even protect their boats from damage.
“In most cases our boats are not even sheltered by basic breakwaters.”

At the same time, the prospect of commercial shipping through the Northwest Passage offers not only the spectre of maritime disasters, but also the more routine threat of leaks and the discharge of bilge water from ships plying Arctic waters, Towtongie said.

Ottawa has put up the money for one small craft harbour in Nunavut, at Pangnirtung, but various municipal and territorial plans for marine improvements languish without action.
And the Canadian Coast Guard has distributed oil cleanup kits to Nunavut hamlets, but those are designed to handle only small, localized spills.
Meanwhile, the closest large port with the ability to handle major marine incidents is St. John’s.
“Right at this point, Nunavut is not prepared,” she said.

Towtongie said it’s time to convene a conference to create a marine transportation strategy for Nunavut.
The federal and territorial governments need to commit stable, long-term funding for infrastructure, and consider public-private partnerships to get projects built, she added.
“If there is increased transportation in the High Arctic, then the Government of Canada needs Inuit,” Towtongie said.
“Inuit are recognized for their sovereignty in the Arctic. There’s no question about it. It’s not negotiable.”

Premier Eva Aariak said Nunavut and Greenland view the potential rise in trans-Arctic shipping with concern and need to be consulted on maritime policy by national governments and the Arctic Council.
“The waters that we share are so delicate that we have to take part in the decisions that are made by outside [decision] makers,” she said.

During a recent visit to Iqaluit, the Greenlandic MP, Aleqa Hammond, said the future of the marine shipping in the Northwest Passage is of direct interest to Greenland.
There, lawmakers are also concerned with how prepared Canada is to provide search and rescue and environmental responses to new shipping traffic.
“The world is opening up to the Arctic and its potential,” Hammond said.
Russia’s Northern Sea Route, which has a head start as an active shipping channel, could offer a preview of what’s to come.
The Barents Observer reported Feb. 11 that various Russian companies plan to ship 600,000 tons of iron ore, 400,000 tons of condensed natural gas and at least 150,000 tons of oil via the route to China this summer.