The possibility of commercial navigation over the Arctic area
October 4, 2008
International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg (Germany-EU) has recently hosted an interesting meeting. Scientists, jurists and experts for maritime navigation discussed about Arctic waterways and possibilities to use them for commercial purpose.
They concluded that global warming influence positively on opening of new commercial seaways through the Arctic region. Canadian professor Dr. Aldo Chircop gave his his opinion that Northwest part of Canadian territory will be navigable during the summer months by the year 2050. Predictions for the Northwest Passage are that there could be a sufficiently long navigable and probably ice-free Arctic summer to enable commercial navigation by 2050. Northwest passage could shorten the journey from Asia to Hamburg (Germany-EU) for about 17.000 km, when Cape Horn route is avoided.
According to his research, Northeast passage through Russian Federation maritime zones (Northern Sea Route) could be safely navigable earlier (before 2050) as Northwest part through the Canadian territory. This possibility would shorten the journey from Asia to Hamburg for about 9000 km. During the summer months, the Northern Sea Route is already open for commercial navigation with the assistance of icebreakers. Conventional voyage from Asia to Europe leads through the Suez Canal before enter the Mediterranean Sea.
Although the ice in the future could melt enough to use Arctic seaways for commercial purpose, the journey would be still dangerous for most of ships. Because of a lot shorter route, costs for shippers could low down, but on the other hand, there would appear costs for icebreakers that would control the seaways, special crew trainings and education. Experts also point to some other troubles as lack of communication coverage on that territory, missing navigation system and costs for possible rescue actions. The current ship’s technique is also not suitable for navigating over the constantly cold areas. There are also unpredictable climate changes that could hinder the voyages.
Canada and the Russian Federation are already regulating Arctic shipping. The Arctic Council has started to consider the issues of governance of international shipping, and its forthcoming report on Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment (AMSA) will be an important contribution to these efforts. Ministers from the five Arctic Ocean coastal states (Canada, Denmark/Greenland, Norway, Russian Federation, United States) already discussed about the future Arctic regional management regime…
